Hoshi Shirushi Kara Futte Gotazoku
by XT-421
Summary: They say when a young girl casts her wishes to the stars, her deepest desires will be answered. Nagi Sanzenin better be careful what she wishes for, because her very world is about to be changed. HayateXNagi, mild on other canon pairings. An XT original!
1. Rejection! Luckless Boy has Bad Luck!

**Hello! Come one! Come all! I am alive, and wish to share my joy!**

**To those of you who don't know me, I'm a riot. My name is Joe, I often go by XT-421 on the internet. I won't lie, I like to brag a little, my stories tend to be really entertaining. I put a lot of effort into them, and I have a knack for story telling. Almost all of my stories traditionally have one element in common, and that is XT-421 himself. You'll see him, I'll spoil that much, but I have to get off this topic before I reveal too much.**

**This story was tricky to write, (still writing it, really) and it gets harder as I go on. However I expect it to be very rewarding in the end.**

**I would like to do a shout-out here, and it is worth noting that I have never done something like this to the extent in which I did it. Most of the stories you've read from me have been me being concitedly awesome solo. Of course, I'll ask opinions, but often, I disregarded them, and never really accepted any input. Not this story. This story's plot was hammered together not only by me, but also by a man with the Penname Dragonkey258. Never before have I been cornered enough to say it, but this story honestly wouldn't have been published if not for this guy. He knows his stuff, he's good with fanfiction. He often berates himself for not having enough fans, (so go see his work, it is interesting.) He writes a little differently than I do, but surely that will be refreshing. I will list them in babble-speak to you, the parts he is responsible for idealizing at the end of the story, but I assure you that it is easily 25 percent of the story that he idealized. Not to mention the other 60 percent that he essentially convinced me was a good idea.**

**But, now let me explain how the fanfiction runs.**

**PREFACE: I DID NOT READ THE MANGA. THERE ARE FEW REFERENCES TO THE MANGA. I apologize sincerely, but spinelessly beg you to reconsider reading this regardless of the lack of Manga references.**

**Let's do a little comparison.**

**Ok, so, Hayate no Gotoku as an anime is wild, often over-the-top, it breaks the fourth wall every so often, it makes references to other animes.**

**My story attempts to mirror that. Occasionally, there will be points where I break the fourth wall as a narrator, and I also do my best to reference other anime shows within the story.**

**I also tried my best to adhere to the characters as they are in the anime. This is my most mature work to date, yet it is also my most childish.**

**BUT WHO AM I KIDDING? You don't want to listen to me blather on about how my story operates! You'd rather read it!**

**So, without further ado,**

**Hoshi Shirushi Kara Futte Gotazoku!**

**Enjoy!**

[hr]

It all begins with the stars.

A pair of emerald eyes stared up into the violet skies just after the sun had finally set. Her blonde, excessively long pony tails hung, partially twisted behind her head as she gazed upon the starscape before her in a daze. She was thin, young, and poorly underdeveloped for her age of an early fifteen year old girl.

They say that when a young girl with longing casts her wishes to shooting stars above, her deepest desires will be answered.

She knew her desires very well.

"Hayate..." she whispered, barely inaudible.

"Yes, Milady?" The blue haired butler was already standing at attention behind her.

"Idiot! I wasn't asking for you!" She growled angrily, shooing him away.

What she wanted was for him to be the good boyfriend he said he was on that one fateful day that they had met. Since then, she gave him a well paying job and saved his life once or twice.

She was the granddaughter of the Sanzenin mega-tycoon patriarch. Her name? Nagi Sanzenin.

She wanted nothing more than Hayate's love, even though he scarcely showed it to her. Instead, he showed it to just about every girl Nagi knew. She had personally caught Hayate with Ayumu Nishizawa the Hamster, Hinagiku Katsura the president of the student council, her best friend Isumi Saginomiya, Sakuya Aizawa, another good friend who happened to be more developed, and her own maid, Maria.

Nagi was bitter about it, for the most part. He showed affection to just about anyone, _but_ her.

Her wish was simple, and a shooting start had just flown over the horizon. _I wish Hayate would show me that he loves me._

Her wish was actually quite complicated. Even after two years of having him as a butler, Nagi still had no idea that when Hayate fumbled the words "I want you" out of his mouth, he was actually insinuating a kidnapping because he was so broke. He was too embarrassed to ever admit to this fact, and so, Nagi had lived under the delusion that Hayate wanted her as a girlfriend.

Of course, the wishing star was not an ordinary wishing star. Were it ordinary, it wouldn't be worth mentioning as a major plot element. No, this wishing star was strange. After being wished upon, it changed color, from white yellow to burning green. Two colors erupted, as if fighting over one another, a red and a purple, both shimmering with the green aura. It happened so quickly Nagi didn't even admit to seeing it.

The small earthquake though, that made her panic and leave the balcony she was staying on. Frightened, she crawled into her bed and called for Maria, who was presently nowhere to be heard.

* * *

The moonlight illuminated her world as she tended the garden. Maria, Nagi's maid and caretaker, and, for all intensive purposes, the boss of the Sanzenin Manor, was tidying up her special flower garden in the patch just behind the mansion. This was one of the ways she expressed herself. She loved these flowers, to the point of protecting them from visitors as she had done to Hayate when he had first arrived to the manor.

Little did she know, she was being watched.

_Ok. The moon is on my side tonight. I like Maria. I want her to know._ Hayate kept repeating this in his head. He knew what Lady Nagi had told him "if you lay your hands on Maria, I'll make you wish you were fired." But, he really did like her, and he wanted her to know. Perhaps, if Maria laid her hands on him...? _No! Indecent thoughts! I will just say that I like her._

Hayate walked from behind the bush and into the clearing where Maria was.

"Oh, Hayate, I didn't hear you coming."

Hayate bit his lip and his body started to tremble slightly. A core feeling, rattling him from the inside out, was slowly building inside him as he tried to visualize the words he had _just_ thought.

"Maria, I-"

Maria perked up. Secretly, she too _wanted_ him to say something.

"I- I really, really like you."

Perhaps for the first time in history, Hayate was able to take his thoughts from his brain, transfer them through his mouth, and make them come out how he had thought them. Basically, he was terrible while speaking to girls on an emotional level.

Maria's face flushed pink. Yes, this is exactly what she wanted to hear. But no, she could not respond appropriately. She gave herself a moment to compose herself, tormenting Hayate with the wait, and responded.

"Hayate," she began so sincerely, "I am sorry." Hayate's heart broke a little. "In other circumstances, I'd love to accept your offer, but, I can't. Nagi specifically does not want us together. Forget about liking me. That is the easiest path for the both of us."

She checked her watch, noted the time, and sat back upright. Holding back tears she lifted herself to a standing position, her flowers mostly done, and began to speak again.

"It is late. I must be off to bed. Again, I'm sorry Hayate, it just can't happen."

_This is why you don't ask girls out Hayate, they all hate you!_ He yelled at himself. He was terrible with women.

As Maria darted off to the shed to put away her gardening tools, she sobbed silently. Hayate trudged back towards the mansion to sleep in his eloquently mediocre bed, millions of times better than the floor of his old house.

In minutes of getting to his room, Hayate feel asleep, not even bothering to get out of his uniform. He was exhausted and defeated, and he may or may not have been crying.

* * *

Maria entered the shed to place her tools away. Tears openly flowed from her face. She was very conflicted. She wanted Hayate as badly as he wanted her. However, she knew too well that it would break Nagi's heart to see the woman she looked up to and the man she aspired to be with, together as a couple. She let loose a deep, long-withheld sigh and recollected herself. Wiping away her conflicted tears and turned around the moment she was done placing her trowel on a rack.

She gasped when she looked into the doorway. Barring her exit from the shed was a seven-foot-tall machine with pointed spikes where its ears should be, glowing emerald eye panels, and silver and purple armor plating that glimmered in the spring moonlight. Apparently, it must have appeared when she was sobbing.

"Shie nok ta'l, Maria." It was an oily, masculine voice that came from the robot. Marian was stricken with fear, mostly from its menacing appearance. "Lek hab," the robot scratched at its head, "Ich hab, nein nein, das ist nicht japanisch. Ein moment bitte." The robot paused letting Maria recollect herself. There was a button in front of her, next to the robot, perhaps she could lunge for it. Were she able to press it, the Sanzenin Special Forces would be there in a moment's notice.

She lunged.

Before she could blink, she was already caught in the robot's arms.

"No, no, no, little Maria, you're coming with us." It clasped a hand gently but more than firmly on her mouth, clamping it shut. "You see, I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. And no, we've taken many precautions as to being found. Klaus and the Special Forces will only see static, a small technical difficulty that will never be debunked.

"But, don't worry, we'll treat you right." The robot smiled sinisterly and walked her out of the shed. Maria blinked to find herself encased in metal; the robot had taken her _inside_ itself, like an exoskeleton.

"Up up and away! Now, my daughter," the robot was addressing another of its kind somewhere out of visible sight. "Initiate phase two!"

Maria was taken further and further away, past the clouds and into the stars, right with the robot until, to Nagi and Hayate below, she was one with them.

And Nagi, who was very unused to sleeping alone, slept alone, already asleep, afraid of the loud noise that shook the ground minutes before.

* * *

**And such concludes chapter one of this story. I will update violently quick in the beginning, and slow by around chapter 3. This chapter was about 4.5 pages. The whole story is estimated (at present) to be more than 200. You can expect more than 20 chapters out of me easily.**

**Rest assured NagiXHayate fans, you'll get your fluff. And, I am working on a parallel story that is M rated so you perverts can have your way with the endless possibilities that this story ends up creating. (Contact me for more information.)**

**Until next time my friends!**

**~XT-421**


	2. The Missing Maid Maria!

**I said I would be violent with the updating in the beginning again.**

**Behold! 6 pages more!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Hayate and Nagi found themselves in Klaus's office early the next morning.

"What do you mean she's gone?" Nagi shouted in panic, her hair still not quite ready for the world. Hayate was standing next to her, sobbing inwardly. It was all his fault.

"I mean," Klaus said in a scraggily voice, he was the mostly unseen, attention-desiring, master butler of the Sanzenin mansion. As the voice in the sky, I can say with frankness this may be the only time you encounter him. "That's not fair." Klaus cried upset with his fate.

Shaking himself out of his mild psychosis with a man-in-the-sky, he continued. "What I mean, is that on this security camera, we can see her entering the shed. Moments later, the camera fades to static, and when it comes back to normal, she is gone. There are no traces of Maria anywhere in the mansion or on the grounds. We have to assume she quit."

"What?" Hayate and Nagi both shouted at the same time.

"No one else in the entire Sanzenin Estate has the intellect to fool cameras in this fashion. In fact, I'd deem this a magic trick it seems so impossible. Maria is the only one capable to have pulled this off. Therefore, she must have done it intentionally.

"And, she will have to be replaced quickly if we are to keep the mansion functioning at maximum capacity." Klaus concluded.

"WHAT?" Maria was a sister, a teacher, a mother, and a beloved friend, the very notion of replacing her was preposterous: it couldn't be done.

"I have just posted a form on the internet for an elite class maid, with all of the attributes Maria had, and any extras that she may have been lacking."

"Maria had no flaws. As if you could find a maid that-" Nagi growled.

"_You've got Mail."_ The voice in the computer spoke.

Klaus look at Nagi and raised his eyebrows, "You were saying?"

"Unbelievable." The girl stomped her foot on the ground.

"Name: Veronica "Quasar" Belle. Born: Jamestown, New York, USA. Age: 16." Klaus looked at the two, and continued, "She claims to be fluent in Japanese, as well as 24 other languages, she graduated from high school before the age of thirteen, she has participated in a few sports, namely bowling, baseball, and golf. She has spent the three years after high school in a maid academy somewhere off in Europe to be taught the tricks of the trade for maids. She can clean and she can cook, boasting of over 400 recipes by heart. She packs light, she's very tidy, and she looks really cute."

Hayate's ears perked, and Nagi noticed. She stamped her foot down on his.

"Ow!"

"I don't want her! Hayate can fill Maria's spots."

"Too late, I already accepted her. I am awaiting her-" _"You've got Mail"_ "Reply. Lord this girl is fast. From the looks of it, she'll be her by... tomorrow? Gosh! She _is _quick."

"Shouldn't we spend our time looking for Maria?" Hayate asked, worried, Nagi nodded with him.

"Sanzenin special forces are already investigating. Rest assured, this replacement will be worth it though." Klaus responded coolly, as coolly as an old scraggily man can.

"Since when have they done anything? Hayate should go!"

"Mi-Milady!" Hayate stammered, unsure if he was happy that Nagi had faith in him, or shocked that she decided whimsically that he should go.

"No, impossible. He must be here to help Ms. Veronica Belle become comfortable with the manor. Show her what she must do."

"Isn't that your job?" Nagi spoke Hayate's thoughts.

"I- Uh... Have other, very important businesses to tend to outside of the sights and minds of the audience." Klaus said it with a very dignified tone.

Klaus shooed them from his office, muttering about the incoming maid and her picture.

Hayate and Nagi stood outside the office, and Nagi was perplexed. Her chin rested in between her thumb and index finger. She was plotting fiercely. "Hayate!" She spoke with her unwavering, commanding voice. "Take me to the Library! Stat!"

Hayate, who _had_ been standing, moping in place over his actions that had caused Maria to quit, stood up immediately and hoisted Nagi onto his back. In a flash, the combat butler dashed off to the Library within the halls of the mansion.

The two gingerly entered the library. Rows upon rows of books stood before them. On the shelves, debatably every textbook and printed copy of media known to mankind could be found. Ladders were located in every row, resting on tracks that allowed the ease of movement throughout the library. Hayate, no matter how many times he had been in this room, was still impressed. Nagi just strode forwards, ignoring the commonplace sight, and dashed to her select corner that she reserved for thinking up new ideas for her manga.

"Sit." She commanded Hayate, the likes of which sat down cross-legged on the floor.

Hayate stared up expectantly at her. He had no idea why they were doing this, but imagined that she'd tell him soon enough.

"Ok Hayate," he was right, "so, you and I both know that Maria didn't quit." Hayate nodded. "I am willing to wager..." She threw down a manga with an alien abducting a maid, Hayate closed his eyes and looked away for a moment: he knew what was coming. "That she was kidnapped by aliens."

"Mi-Milady, if that is the case, how am I going to go about rescuing her?" Hayate stammered, recalling her unwavering faith in him.

"Simple. I am going to make an investment or two in a prototype air-to-space vehicle, and you are going to pilot it into the atmosphere and hunt down the aliens to make them give Maria back."

Not pleased with the prospect of flying in space, Hayate countered, "Why would aliens have motive to kidnap Maria?"

Nagi paused for a moment, but not long enough to give the illusion that she did not know exactly why aliens would have motive to kidnap Maria. "Hayate," she began slowly, "you do know what aliens do to young girls who they've kidnapped, right?"

"Ransom?" Hayate asked innocently.

"No, though that would be a good guess." Nagi set down a manga in front of him, the cover depicted an alien tentacle monster with a girl upraised in the air with a tentacle-

"Gah! Young girls shouldn't be reading things like this!" Hayate announced, confiscating the hentai magazine.

"It wasn't- I didn't- it's not like- I- I- ughh..." Nagi sighed in defeat, reddening.

"Milady, with all due respect, Maria would've told you she wasn't capture by aliens. I'm sure of it. Besides, the Sanzenin Special Forces _are_ looking for her. Maybe they will actually find her?" Hayate then added with a shudder, "Maybe she actually quit?"

"Hayate, don't be stupid, we both know Maria would never quit."

_She would if she felt the situation was too awkward working and living with me when I liked her so much... _Hayate thought miserably. He decided to close his mind to Maria, only to think about her when instructed. It _was_ his fault, after all that Maria had left.

"Ok... But... what should we do then?" Hayate asked hopelessly.

Nagi cracked a smirk, "I was just getting to that. I have to admit, I think Klaus is right. He is essentially useless as a butler, and... I need you to be here if you can't find Maria." Nagi's face lit up red and she looked away from Hayate for a moment. "But we have to figure out what we are going to do about this 'Veronica Quasar Belle' chick." Nagi glowered, "We have to run her to the ground."

"So you want to make her work really hard and discourage her... I see." Hayate nodded in understanding. "So I get the day off?"

Nagi pondered. _The last time I gave him the day off, he went to Hina's house... _Nagi's eyes began glowing with a small flame, _Every time I shun him from the house some other girl tries to take him away from me! He should be more faithful! No, he has to stay._

"No," Nagi answered, "I need you here." She added, blushing mildly.

"Ah, I see," Hayate nodded, "I need to watch over Ms. Veronica as you work her to the ground."

At this, Nagi glared. "I will be there too." She reminded him. Both he and the new girl were to be on a short leash.

"Of course! You will be there to order her around!" Hayate exclaimed, "A brilliant scheme, Milady."

Nagi flinched. _Hayate, you are too devilish; to compliment me like that so unexpectedly. I won't give in so easily._

Nagi came to the conclusion that, because they were alone, and that Maria wasn't there to stop him, Hayate must be trying to make a move on her. The thought terrified and excited her. But she wanted to make sure she wasn't played with like a toy. She was a Sanzenin! Above that, a woman. She wouldn't be toyed with.

"Hmph!" Nagi affirmed her train of logic. "Hayate, don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Milady?" Hayate asked, confused.

Nagi stared at him, and Hayate stared back. His stunning cerulean eyes were alluring as ever. Slowly, she began to succumb to his evil charm. Nagi repressed a blush, fumed, and grit her teeth: he was winning.

"What are you still doing here? I said go!"

"You never-"

"GO!"

Hayate rushed out of the study, upset and confused.

Nagi sighed. It had to be done. Grudgingly, she pulled out her manga, and began writing and drawing away.

* * *

Hayate sighed. Normally, this was a moment when Maria would console him, and cheer him up. Nagi was a curious girl; one moment she could be smiling, the next, turning red with anger.

Without Maria here to give him some form of explanation, Hayate could only sigh and find something to do. He knew that, if he was to clean the house thoroughly, Ms. Veronica Quasar Belle would have nothing to clean. So he decided to go to his room, and reflect upon the past events. He stayed there until lunchtime, where he knew Nagi would call for her.

* * *

**One more down! Ok... so that's a lie, I have about 30 pages written as of right now. Y'all need to be caught up with me if I am to start accepting requests. Such as: "Mr. XT! Can you make a cutesy HayateXNagi scene? Please?" To this I say, Ok, I can do that, just wait a second... there, written, enjoy! You get the idea.**

**More coming soon.**

Chapter added 19:33, 01/29/2012


	3. Enter: Mysterious Alien Robot Maidnapper

**Round 3! FIGHT!  
**

**And NOW you get to see my beloved flagship character.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Maria opened her eyes slowly. She heard a strange, jittery noise before her eyes adjusted to the dim room she was in. She noted she was in a lavish bed, complete with red silk sheets, and thick woolen blankets dyed golden colors. Aside from the bed, the air was quite chilly. This was made more extreme based on the fact that she could see her maid's outfit hanging up in the corner of the room, and that she was mostly naked underneath the covers.

She wrapped herself up in the red duvet tightly as she let loose a shrill shriek. The jittering outside, presumably a father and daughter arguing with one another, ceased. A door opened, or rather, dematerialized, and then a tall figure strode in. It was a robotic creature, about seven feet tall, with large sweeping wings held upright behind it. Colored a dark purple with silver finish, the robot smiled as it saw Maria.

"Maria" she had heard this oily voice before, "welcome aboard... my ship." The robot's eye panels shifted to a space above her head, as if in thought, "My ship, the _Ensis Cor._" The robot smirked, seemingly happy.

"The Sword Heart?" Maria asked.

The robot winced slightly, "You speak Latin? Damn it all. Yes, the _Sword Heart_, I guess I did say it."

Maria sat upright, dumbfounded. A million questions entered her head. Her intellect allowed her to prioritize them.

"Are you the thing that kidnapped me? Am I kidnapped? Where am I? Who are you? Why did you kidnap me?"

"Maria, Maria, Maria! Life is too short, let's not be so brief! My name is... Kel Sel'ok. Yes, I kidnapped you. Soon, I will reveal to you my whole plan, but until then, I want you to honestly believe that I am here as an alien robot to take over the world. Does this goal seem logical and believable to you?"

"To take over the world... you kidnapped me? No, I am not buying it. Who are you really, and why does it seem like you are making up names?"

"Damn you Maria," The robot shifted, gazing at her. "Ok, yes, I have bigger, better plans than world domination, and kidnapping you may seem trifling, but...Ok how about this plan of attack. Don't question it. I just want your opinion of whether or not it is believable. Here goes: I kidnapped you because I want to take over the world economically. By using you as ransom for the Sanzenin family, I gain control over the largest single collection of wealth on the face of the planet. There, I will invest in choice markets in the Americas, and use my power of foresight to buy all of the stock in every single company around the world. I will then use my influence to crash the stock market globally, and send the world into a serious recession, the likes of which it will never crawl back from!"

"Well Mr. _Kel Sel'ok_, it sounds rather believable, however, you appear to be a touch later, the world is, in fact, in a recession already."

"It is? Damn. Whatever though. Maria, you may call me by my serial code 'X', 'T', '4', '2', '1', XT for short. My real name is Xavier, but I respond better to XT."

"What are your real plans, Mr. XT?" Maria demanded, "And where am I?"

"All in good time my dear Maria. Needless to say, you aren't really being held hostage here. But no, you can't leave. I need you alive and well to fulfill your role in the future. As for where you are, well, step out of bed, get dressed, and follow me."

Maria noted that the blankets weren't covering her as intended. She turned a pinkish hue, and grabbed the covers.

"What's with that reaction? I may sound male, but I am most certainly genderless. Besides, I'm spoken for, and have a family!" He puffed, and stormed out of the room in mock-anger.

Maria did indeed stand up out of bed. She felt terribly indecent, and was rather frustrated with the robot. He told her scarcely anything, and was obviously making everything up on the spot. What his true intentions were, were a complete mystery.

She inspected her outfit, determined that it had not been tampered with, except maybe being cleaned. She put on everything, exactly how she appeared the night she was captured and thrown into this rabbit hole.

"For once," Maria muttered to herself, "Nagi's prediction of me getting captured by aliens was probably spot on. I hope that hentai magazine I found while I was cleaning was Hayate's, and not hers. But would Hayate really read that?" She sighed, "Of course she read it... She probably thinks that is what couples do, essentially... That poor girl... I really wish Hayate could see that she is so smitten with him." Maria sighed a final time and walked towards the door.

She let out a peep when the door vanished before her, as if expecting her to enter it.

A small pathway lit up on the ground, and a voice emanated from unseen speakers. It was the oily voice of that robot known as XT-421.

"Maria, follow the green pathway to the dining hall, I have a very nice breakfast of ham, eggs, toast, bacon, orange juice and pancakes freshly prepared for you!"

The communication ended, and Maria stood before the green pathway shaking her head. "This is far too strange for my liking. But, it honestly doesn't seem like I have any options."

As she strode about the corridors, she saw a window here or there. The bright blue coloring immediately indicated that she was underwater, but at second glance, she realized that it was an ocean; from space.

"AUGGGGH!" Maria screamed, lunging back from the window. Anchoring herself well against the wall most opposite the window, she took deep breaths to regain conscious thought.

"There is no way this is real! No way! I'm in... space?"

"Why yes, dear Maria, you are. And you are all people should know it is rude to keep your servant waiting for breakfast."

"Ser...vant?" She mumbled out staring at the robot now in front of her.

"Why of course! I am but your humble servant! And kidnapper, but that comes second... or maybe it comes first, and the servant comes second?" The robot added in honest afterthought, "Regardless, that bacon isn't getting any warmer!" XT hoisted her onto his shoulder, and carried her into the dining room.

"Put me down!"

"Naturally!" XT cheered, sitting at the other end of a rather long table.

Maria breathed, and stood up, slamming her fists on the table.

"I demand to know what is going on at once!" She stated with authority.

"Tsk, tsk. I won't answer any questions until my humble attempt at a glorious breakfast is finished." XT waved a finger at her.

Maria couldn't believe it, she was being forced to eat a 5-star meal.

Grumbling, she took a piece of bacon and shoved it in her mouth. XT looked at her intently. Maria noticed this, and paused._ What if he poi_ "I didn't poison it, if that's what you're thinking. Oh wait, it _is _what you're thinking." XT smirked.

"Wha-what? You can read thoughts?"

"And minds, and books, and runes, and glyphs, and body language too." XT flashed a creepy, toothy grin.

Maria lowered her head onto the table with her hands on her head. "Why is this happening to me?"

XT appeared at her side and gave her a feeble hug. "Feel better?"

"Get your hands off me!" She glared.

"I've tortured you long enough. We are in space. Precisely, we are in orbit equal to the ISS, but on the opposite side of the planet as it, and we are cloaked, so no one can see us or hear us or detect us. What I said about taking over the world is only half true. I would love to reveal my whole plan to you, from the bones to the veins to the neurons, but, there is an unseen audience somewhere around here that would hear of it, and it would ruin the rest of the story for them."

"You're delusional!"

"No I'm not!" XT cried out.

He's not.

"Someone spoke who wasn't here!" Maria closed her eyes. "I want to go home."

"May I do the honors Mr. Narrator?" XT requested.

Of course.

XT waved a hand over Maria's head, and she began snoring.

"That's better. Her asleep allows me to finalize other plots! Now, back to the forefront of the action! The Sanzenin Estate!" XT joyously proclaimed.

That's my line.

XT smirked once more.

* * *

**Ok, so this chapter was short, but without it, the next chapter would've been obnoxiously long.**

**More Coming Soon...**

****Chapter added 19:47, 01/29/2012


	4. Much Ado about Zinged Chicken and Belles

**Slightly longer than the previous norm. I introduce a few new OC's here, I hope you accept the well. I mean, you already knew her from a chapter or so back, but, whatever.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

Lunch had passed on the Sanzenin Estate, and Nagi was slightly edgy.

With Maria gone, there was a whole role missing from her life. She needed a girl to fill her place, to talk about Hayate to, and to vent when she was frustrated, generally about Hayate. Obviously Hayate wouldn't do.

Part of her wanted to ask him herself, but she feared that. Somewhere, buried in her, she felt that he would confess to cheating, and she didn't want to hear him say that. What she wanted, more than anything, was for him to sweep her off her feet. It had been nearly a year and a half without him ever commenting on their relationship. Of course, every so often, he'd show he cared for her, but he did for others too.

Nagi acknowledged this, but desired that she was his only one.

To avoid stressful thinking, she mindless was in the Wii Room, playing the latest unreleased game. She had enough stock in Nintendo that she was able to buy the games often a month before they were officially finished.

Maria's absence, Hayate's relationship negligence, they all swirled away into nothing as she flicked her Wii-mote around.

* * *

Hayate peered through the door at Nagi. Dinner was nearing, and she had spent the greater half of her day in the Wii Room surrounded by speakers and 84in Plasma Screen TVs. Hayate knew she was bothered. But he also knew that she'd never confess to being bothered. Were he to ask why she was upset, traditionally, she'd get angry at him for it.

He sighed, unable to do anything but be her servitor. As he walked back from his routine check up on his mistress, he pondered the problem that was Maria. _Obviously she left because of me, but... where did she go off? Why didn't she take any of her other clothes? _Hayate and Nagi had checked at a point after lunch. Maria's room was a still as a crypt. She hadn't even been in it since the beginning of the week. She had slept in the same room as Nagi the nights previous.

That thought made Hayate worry. _How will Milady sleep?_ _Maria always helped her get to bed... I guess me? GAH! That wouldn't be right! A female and male can't sleep in the same bed! I won't do it. What would she think? What would a girl think if a guy was sleeping in their bed? _Hayate shivered, _She'd kick me out and leave me like Maria did if she thinks that I am trying to engage in unspoken activities with her!_

Maria was essentially the moral support for the two clueless beings. When their lives were going wrong, they would turn to her for help. With her not there, the house felt empty, and their heads felt too clouded.

Hayate would've loved Maria's advice on the matter, but, she wasn't there to ask.

Hayate entered the kitchen after checking the calendar.

"Oh, look at that, Ms. Hinagiku birthday is coming up!" The present date was the 22nd of February. In less than ten days, it would be Hinagiku Katsura's birthday. Hayate flushed. He hadn't bought her anything or thought of it until just now.

Memories flooded him of last year. He recalled Hina, her hair flowing behind her as she struck at him over and over again, infuriated that he had forgotten to meet her on the night of her birthday. She broke down shortly after, and he served her tea and cookies in apology.

He liked her, _but she would never like me, so, that ends that fantasy._

With a sigh, he began to ponder what he should get her for her birthday while cooking up a tasty dinner for Nagi.

Hayate stood in the wide kitchen, crackled his knuckles, and when to work. He had one mission: to cook his mistress's dinner. It was a special dinner tonight, in a sad, somber sort of way. Maria was not there. Normally, Maria, Nagi and Hayate, occasionally Klaus and Tama, would all eat dinner together. Hayate pondered in sad memory that these dinners weren't really special, but they were all together then, and they weren't now.

So he intended to make this one really special for Nagi, because in his mind, Maria really wasn't coming back.

With his mistress's enjoyment of her dinner the focus of his cooking, he found a recipe that he felt she would enjoy. Hayate knew that the grandeur of her posh lifestyle had mostly desensitized her to posh 5 star dishes, so going low key, yet still maintaining a delicious flavor was the way to please her.

The real trick wouldn't be to impress her taste buds, but rather getting the meal to be healthy for her.

He began with gathering a dozen or so lemons, limes, and oranges from the cold storage just a room away from the versatile kitchen. To begin, he needed to get the rind of all three of the citrus fruits. So he sat at the kitchen table, gently scraping the skin of each fruit gently with a fruit grater. With great care and skill, each of the dozen of each type of fruit was transformed from a tough protective coat into a fine slimy powder of green, orange and gold in a mixing bowl. In a matter of half an hour, the bowl was nearly full.

This, he put in the fridge.

Hayate wiped the small amount of sweat from his cerulean hair, and walked to the cold storage again. To anyone not trained in culinary arts, the scene would be rather grotesque. Rows upon rows of stocked meats and fruits were presented before him. He knew precisely what he was looking for, and pursued it. Placing on some rubber gloves and an apron, he pulled a few slabs of poultry from a hangar. Carefully, he made his way back to another section of the kitchen counter where a cutting board was previously placed for his usage.

Deftly, he used his knife to thin the meat and remove the excess fat that the poultry previously possessed. He did this for 4 slabs of the chicken, making roughly two dozen slices. He neatly laid these uncooked pieces of chicken on a large plate.

He collected a large casserole dish and set it in front of the bowl where he kept the unpeeled citrus fruits. With a paring knife, he sliced the lemons, limes, and oranges into thin slices, and orderly laid them about the bottom of the casserole dish, forming a sort of bed.

He left this in a large refrigerator until for a few seconds.

Using a breading and a few seasons, the lemon, lime, and orange 'powder' included, he lightly coated the surface of each slice of chicken, and placed each one atop the bed of citrus fruits.

Hayate smiled, he knew exactly how this would taste as he made it.

The moment he was done loading the breaded slices of chicken into the dish, he popped it into the oven, thinking about a side dish.

_Again, the trick is to get her to eat healthy food. Hmmm..._

Hayate smirked as he came up with a devious plan to get his mistress to eat her vegetables. He began to make traditional mashed potatoes. Lucky for him, the Sanzenin Estate comes equipped, year round, with every known form of produce imaginable. This fact is in no way associated with the author's lack of originality or obvious disregard to Japanese tradition in having a wealthy family eat zinged chicken breasts and mashed potatoes.

Hayate had, in nearly no time at all, peeled a few dozen potatoes, and began to boil them in a large vat. While these potatoes were softening, he checked the chicken in the oven, noted that it was cooking slightly more on one side than the other. Knowledgeably, he used an oven mitt to turn the casserole dish around, to allow even cooking throughout the slices.

It didn't take long for the potatoes to fully boil, and thus, once they did, Hayate drained the most of the water from them, added some milk and butter, and began casually mixing them together.

After a few good stirs, he grabbed a handful of stereotypically 'healthy' vegetables: carrots, broccoli, celery and spinach, and began to mince them to their molecular state. In a few minutes, a sticky putty of cut up vegetables sat before Hayate in a green and orange goo.

Teaspoon by teaspoon, he shoveled the fine mixture into the potatoes. The color dissipated from the goo and throughout the potatoes rather quickly, leaving nothing but slightly green potatoes. Without a reference to differentiate from, was impossible to notice.

Hayate smiled, tasting a sample and verifying his skill as a chef.

Likewise, when the zinged chicken came out of the oven, he took a small sample which he enjoyed.

"All that's left is to hope that she eats her servings of mashed potatoes." Hayate left the food in a heated chamber for later use as he went off to gather Nagi for dinner.

* * *

Nagi's eyes were glassed over when Hayate found her, still in the Wii room. Gently, his left hand went over her right shoulder to alert her of his presence.

"H-Hayate!" Nagi stammered, caught unawares by her butler. "Give a girl some warning before you just grab her arm like that!" Red filled her face.

"I'm sorry Milady, but I just cooked dinner, and I feel it would be a waste to leave it for long." His warm smile temporarily made her forget that her caretaker went missing last night.

"So," Nagi asked, fumbling for words to use, "what did you make for dinner?"

"Ah, nothing special Milady. Just some zinged chicken and mashed potatoes."

"Zinged chicken?" Nagi asked, mildly suspicious. "What is that?"

"Well, let's see, I took the chicken, and zinged them with flavor." Hayate smiled at her.

"I see." It was completely uninformative, but the zeal that Hayate put behind his smile made Nagi unable to think of much.

In the next instant, Hayate was getting her chair for her, and she was sitting in it. She blinked, and the daze ended as a platter of food, a few slices of breaded chicken and mashed potatoes. A light steam emanated from the dish as Nagi sniffed the air. A tangy, lively smell filled her nostrils with each waft she inhaled. Dreamily, greedily, she smelled for more. Another scent was buried behind the fruity smell, a meaty chicken, and a hearty helping of richly endowed mashed potatoes.

Nagi yelped as Hayate swooped in to snag a drip of saliva managing to escape her mouth.

She wanted to scowl, but knew better.

"Aren't you going to eat with me?" It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

"As soon as you comment on the first bite, I will grab my plate."

Nagi rolled her eyes and complied. She went for the chicken first. With moderate delicacy, she tore a piece of a chicken slice off and impaled it on the tines of her fork. Hayate watched with great anticipation as she lifted the small piece to her mouth, sniffed it once, and wrapped her small lips around the meat. Gently, she chewed, letting the tangy flavor escape to the corners of her mouth, and swallowed with even more care.

She raised a hand to her cheek, "Hatate, that was phenomenal."

"I am glad you think so." Hayate's beaming smile was unrelenting.

He grabbed his plate and sat across from her, secretly waiting for her to eat the mashed potatoes.

"How did you make this? Could you teach me?"

"Oh, it was simple really. I am sure I could teach you one day. Just a little trick with some citrus fruits I remembered back when I worked on a lemon tree farm."

Nagi smiled back at him. Her Hayate had seemingly worked every profession.

But as they both ate their food, mashed potatoes included, they both began to sadden. The silence ebbed away at their positive demeanors, and left Nagi frowning as she consumed the savory dish.

By the time she requested seconds, she finally opened up.

"Hayate," She asked, the second plate being presented to her, an offering to the master.

"Yes, Milady?" The bluenette answered with a forced smile.

"What... what if... if Maria doesn't come back?" She finally forced out. "And this Veronica Belle chick is here to stay?"

"Well, I guess it means this is our last dinner together before everything changes?" Hayate's eyes closed as he smiled, making him oblivious to Nagi's crimson face before him.

Her mood instantly skyrocketed as she began her routine Hayate fantasies. Maria's absence became a temporary afterthought as the possibilities of Hayate flew through her head.

Unsure of how to act in front of him, whether or not she should keel to his smooth talking and say something flirtatious or just smile, she decided to be done with dinner after a few more mouthfuls of mashed potatoes.

"Hayate, thanks for dinner,"

"You will be upstairs playing that new game I take it?"

"Ugh, it has a name Hayate." She huffed, and fled his magical gaze.

Hayate sighed. He took her dishes and smiled; she ate a lot of vegetable-ridden mashed potatoes this time around. In essence, he won.

* * *

As the night dragged on, an ominous air filled the halls. Rank with anticipation and anxiety, the house, and its inhabitants, awaited the concisely planned arrival of the new maid.

Hayate cleaned, trying to keep his mind off it, but the overwhelming knowledge that Maria had left because of him, and that she was being replaced, could not be evaded for long. When it finally caught up with him and swept his happy thoughts away, he just sighed, very deeply, and continued working. After all, he'd been through this before. His beloved parents abandoned him and stacked him with an insurmountable debt.

Nagi, on the other hand, sat in her Wii room, now opting to use a GameCube controller in lieu to the Wii-mote. Because of this, the ever-repeating colors sapped her of her focus, and she fought hard to keep her eyelids open.

As hard as she tried, however, the colors on the screen began to melt away, and she found herself dreaming away on the couch she played on.

Hayate continued his round for a half-hour longer until he found his mistress weakly snoring on the red velvet couch that took up a small portion of the Wii room, one of the various entertainment rooms in the Sanzenin manor.

He smiled, his immediate angst wiped away, and he expertly moved his arms underneath her knees and back, and gingerly lifted her into the air.

_It wouldn't be proper to change her into her nightly attire, so I will just lay her down in her bed._

Silently, he moved her back to her bed. Setting her down atop her bed, he gazed at her for a moment. A shiver later, he had laid a spare blanket on her, and tucked her in softly.

She smiled, and so did Hayate.

"Good night, milady." He whispered to her, giving her tousled hair a light pat.

"Haya-" she whispered, half asleep.

Hayate paused, waiting for her command. "Yes milady?"

She just nestled her way further into her covers and rolled on her sight. Hayate gave a silent chuckle and walked away smiling. He was careful to leave a large nightlight on and shut the door without any noise.

He wandered off to his room, a normal sized room near the roof with no obvious decorations or hints of personal belongings. He took off his attire and fell on the bed. In seconds, he was asleep.

* * *

She folded her legs and huffed.

The faint rumbling of the road leaked into their black Lincoln MKZ, which irritated her. It wouldn't have mattered if the ambient silence feature was working or not, she was still grouchy. She placed her pale hands on the black leather interior, rapped at the bench in back, and huffed again.

She changed the position of her legs.

"I hate this." She grumbled.

"Now, now Veronica-"

"I prefer Quasar," she interjected sharply.

"Veronica," the man in the driver's seat insisted, eliciting another huff, "You know it is better this way."

"I know, but that's what I hate. Couldn't we have come up with a better option? We are so much smarter than this! Look!" She held up her leg, showing the driver a very mangled, warped bare foot. "How am I ever going to hide this? They aren't stupid, they'll see through the qualifications."

"Ooh, I hadn't thought about your feet. Hmm, well, if you are going to keep your job my little daughter, then we are going to have to improvise, aren't we?"

"HOW? We are only 8 hours away, and we still haven't thought of a way around my _little_ foot problem." She growled, trying to wiggle her toes for him.

"Now, now, Veronica, don't wake your mother." The silver haired driver motioned to his right. A young lady, looking not more than twenty, slept in the passenger's seat. Her eyes were serenely closed, and a hint of drool could be seen trickling down the seatbelt that held her securely upright.

"Ugh, stop calling her that. You just had to go and bring your fancy girlfriend, didn't you?"

"It _is_ her car, and she _is_ my girlfriend, and she _is_ for the sake of maintaining a proper demeanor to these overly wealthy people, your mother. Are we in clear and coherent understanding?" The man inquired sternly.

"Yes father." She forced out.

The little Veronica 'Quasar' Belle folded her legs once more, and began twirling a lock of her shoulder-length blonde hair. She observed this action intently, as if marveling the act as it was. She picked up the leather-bound document that contained the comprehensive files on the two key members of the household and reviewed them.

"So, this Nagi girl is proud but has obvious weaknesses, and if she ever shared any of these weaknesses, she shared them with the girl I am replacing, Maria, is it?"

"Most certainly."

"And this Hayate, ooh, he's cute," she exclaimed, admiring his picture for a moment longer. Her father chuckled softly. "He is oblivious to an nth degree, yet as skilled as a machine. Pfft! As if!" She scoffed.

"And remember, she has the largest crush on this boy, so tread carefully. One false move in the first week or so and you get canned."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm careful." She grabbed a blue and silver metal pen and began to toy around with it in the bench behind him.

Slowly, she began to work at the metal, removing the blue plastic parts without shattering them. Gradually, what was once a pen became a sinewy stick figure made of metal. She shattered the blue plastic and stuck it into the head of the pen figurine.

She found a yellow ball point pen of similar make, and did the same thing, carefully arranging the 'hairstyles' to resemble the figures on the documents before her.

Veronica put pen-Hayate's hand in pen-Nagi's hand, and brought them together in somewhat of a hug, heads touching, indicating a kiss.

"Something tells me," her father began, noting her work, "that, somewhere deep within the complex workings of your mind, you are going to enjoy your stay here."

She patted down her vermillion dress, satisfied, and glared back at him with livid emerald eyes that illuminated the darkness of the back of the car.

"Yes," She clenched both figures in her right hand and squeezed them with all her miniscule might. From both pen-figurines, the metal bent, contorted, and caved in. The inkwells inside each burst, splattering yellow and blue ink on her dress and face. She grinned wickedly.

"I think I will."

* * *

**MUHAHAHAHAHA! I had so much fun writing that last scene that I cried. Legit statement is legit.**

**More coming soon...**

****Chapter added 13:04, 01/30/2012


	5. Veronica Arrives

**Forgive me. I am about to double the length of this story in one sitting. You see, I've been busy, (not just writing), and I figured "Oh, at the end of the day in the story, I will make it a chapter!" Well, that's what I thought at first anyways. Then the "day" turned out to be really, really long. Like, 36 pages long. That really isn't that long for me back when, but it is for the me of today (different writing style, different mode of thinking.) So, I had to wait to figure out how I was going to cut 'what' up. The result, a long delay, then a surge of materials.**

**I hope you still enjoy!  
**

* * *

On the morning Veronica Belle was supposed to arrive, the mansion was as boringly exciting as ever.

Nagi awoke to the smell of freshly cooked eggs in her own bed. This thought worried her. _Didn't I fall asleep playing video games? Did Hayate... Did Hayate touch me in my sleep?_ Of course, this train of thought was true, but we all know she wanted to believe a different train of thought.

"HAYATE!" She roared with the might of a dragon.

"Yes, milady?" Hayate appeared in her doorway, a cheery smile planted on his face.

"You moved me last night, correct?" Her voice was filled with tension as she grit her teeth.

"Of course. And once I moved you back to your bed, I gave you a spare blanket because you were shivering." The bluenette reported dutifully.

"You didn't try anything on me, did you?" She growled, hugging certain parts of her body.

"'Try anything'? Milady?" Hayate asked, curious.

"Well, when a guy sees a girl when she's asleep, she is defenseless-"

"Ahh, I see. No. Nothing of the sort. I was wondering whether or not I should get your nightgown on you, but decided against that, worrying that you would feel I overstepped my bounds."

_Overstepped his bounds? Oh gosh! He knows not to do anything to me without my permission! Hayate! That is so noble!_ She ogled him in her head, trying to resist letting all of her fantasies be portrayed on her face as a red hue.

"Milady, I cooked eggs for breakfast, would you like to eat before Veronica gets here? Klaus is preparing the main foyer for her family arrives at eleven.

"But it's only ten o'clock now! We hardly have any time to prepare the house for her!" Nagi shrieked.

"Well if you eat your breakfast quickly, maybe we can go after some of your schemes, eh?" Hayate smiled.

Nagi dashed to the kitchen immediately, Hayate walked to keep pace behind her.

* * *

She arrived in the dining room very fatigued, plopping into the chair Hayate provided for her.

"I am famished, Hayate, could you get me some of those eggs, and hash browns, if you made any."

Hayate mouth twitched in disbelief, she had hardly run 100 meters.

"Yes, milady. Of course I made those."

What was supposed to be a quick bite ended up being a full course breakfast, with blueberry muffins, sunny-side-up eggs, hash browns, toast with over three styles of jelly including a cinnamon spread, and, at the end, Nagi proudly ate a healthy fruit, a banana. Well, half of it.

"I'll save the other half for later." She promised. Though, Hayate knew better. Nagi jumped when the grandfather clocks in the mansion began sounding in unison. It was now 11:00.

"She could be here any second!" Nagi exclaimed, tugging Hayate along towards the main foyer.

The two made in less than a minute. Klaus had beaten them to the grand foyer. Klaus nodded in acknowledgement at them as the trio approached the door. The massive ornate door creaked open flawlessly, and the trio rushed outside to meet the newcomer.

"They're not here yet." Nagi grumbled.

"Of course they would be mildly late. They have been traveling since yesterday morning using standard forms of transportation! I cannot expect them to arrive at eleven sharp. I mean-"

_BZZZT_

The sound of a buzzer went off on a box attached to one of the main columns on the patio.

Klaus, shocked, walked up to this device and pulled a phone out of a compartment.

"Yes?" He paused, listening to someone on the other line, "Oh my! Yes Mr. Matthias Belle! I am opening the gates right now. We will be waiting."

Nagi's mouth dropped. It was hardly a minute passed the projected deadline.

At the far end of the long driveway, a black luxury vehicle made its presence known. It was a small car of pewter color with extremely tinted windows. It majestically wheeled its way to the main roundabout at the front of the driveway.

It idled in place, parked, for a few seconds until the engine finally rumbled to a stop. The driver's side door opened, and a tall man in a well pressed suit came out. His long, flowing locks of silvery hair danced down his back as he moved to the other side of the car, first opening the passenger's door. A graceful woman garbed in a rich, oceanic dress, took her first step out of the car. She held a hand to block the light for a moment and then lowered her arm. Her hands darted behind her back as she put on a smiling face. Tilting from side to side, she shifted her weight in her black sandals, as if unsure of what to do.

The tall man opened the backseat door last, and stepped away with the door.

A youthful looking adolescent skirted her legs off the edge of the car, and placed a delicate hand on the car door, holding herself upright. She wore a hat that covered the top of her blonde hair that was a sort of mix between a bonnet and a beret. Once she stood up to her full height, barely above the chest of the lady, she patted her skirt down and let her gaze return to eye level.

There was something terribly wrong with her gait though: she was wearing a pair of roller-skates as shoes.

Klaus turned to Hayate and whispered to him in near panic, "Hayate, why does she have those wheels on her shoes?" He nearly sounded hysteric.

The girl skated her way slowly, shakily, even, towards the main stairs. Behind her, the tall man walked behind the car and pulled forth a large suitcase, just one suitcase, huge and purple, but just one. It looked immensely heavy, but the man held it casually in one hand at his side. His lanky appearance made the scene even more misleading. The lady possessed his left arm, holding it with the strange possession that is love. The two followed the girl up towards the stairs.

At the foot of the stairs, the girl paused. Carefully, she took a step upwards.

Hayate, Klaus, and Nagi cringed. What this girl was doing was incredibly dangerous and foolish.

Her dolly eyes closed, her fists clenched, and she lifted herself up onto one foot, ascending the first step.

The man, who by this point had caught up with her, smiled. The smile was not necessarily pride, but also a hint of amusement. The lady, in much contrast, was rather concerned.

She whispered a series of incoherent mumbles to her daughter.

At that precise moment, Veronica's concentration faltered, and her skates sent her right leg flying forwards into the front of the step. With her obscenely white teeth shining in the late morning sun, she flipped forwards, landing upright on the step above her current one.

With one foot on the top, she looked up at Klaus, Hayate and Nagi, a beaming smile on her face. She spun her other foot to a ninety degree angle and stood up at the top stair as if she hadn't just nearly killed herself. Her emerald eyes were nearly glowing in the shade of the patio as her smile glimmered to the three.

"Mr. Klaus, Mr. Hayate, Mistress Nagi," She curtsied, wheels barely moving, "I am Veronica Quasar Belle. Pleased to meet you." She held out a hand to be shaken.

Klaus was the first to take her hand.

"What an impressive show there Ms. Belle. Is there any particular reason you wear the roller skates?" Klaus asked, shakily. American's were strange in custom, but the roller skates seemed rather extreme.

"When I was off in Europe, they taught me the art of serving my masters while on wheels. I assure you it is a delicacy to have a Roller Maid in your services." Veronica bowed once more.

"Is that so..." Klaus was not sold, "Why didn't you put that on your application?"

"Mr... Klaus, is it?" The man reached the top stair with a jocular smile on her narrow face.

"Yes, Mr. Belle?"

"I can speak for my daughter with all honesty and frankness that she can complete any task your previous chief maid could accomplish with equal, if not better, efficiency, while wearing those roller skates."

The lady held onto his arm a little tighter.

Klaus adjusted his glasses. "Very well. Mistress Nagi, the call is yours."

Nagi smiled wickedly. "I believe that the house could do with a good cleaning, don't you Hayate?"

"Yes, Milady." Hayate agreed, still smiling gaily.

* * *

"If I may ask once more, Mistress, you want me to clean _all _of the floors in the mansion?" Veronica queried.

"Hayate can do it in the small of two hours, and Maria could do it in three." She affirmed.

"Milady that isn't exactly-" Hayate began to interject, but received a sharp blow to his chest by Nagi.

"Shut up, Hayate," she growled.

"Very well, will you be telling me where the cleaning supplies are, or will I have to find them myself?"

"After the first day, Hayate managed to make a room spotless in the matter of 40 minutes without any prior knowledge of the mansion."

"Hmm. As you wish, my mistress." She bowed, and darted forwards through the wooden halls of the second floor.

"Hayate! Let's go after her!" Nagi ordered. In an instant, she was being carried to down the hall.

Before they turned the corner, they heard a mumbling.

"Wood flooring, first remove all particles on the ground, next, treat with a wood finisher." It was Veronica, and her voice got louder as she spoke.

_WHOOSH_

A blur of red and blonde zoomed past Hayate and Nagi as Veronica rode on the walls to make her turn. In one hand, she had a broom, which was magically sweeping half of the floor as she rocketed down the hallway. In her other hand, she had a vacuum cleaner with a massive extension cord, upright, sucking in all of the dust that she was kicking up.

A wild look was on her face, as if she was absolutely thrilled to be working.

Amazingly, she left no scuff marks on the floor or walls.

By the time Hayate and Nagi turned around, the cord had tripped Hayate, and Veronica had made another turn.

"Whoa." Nagi exclaimed. "That. Is. Fast."

Hayate nodded.

As if on cue, the red tornado turned around, and sped back towards them, now vacuuming the other side of the hall. As she went, she rotated the vacuum, managing to coil the cord onto her arm.

Again, Hayate fell over, Nagi remained upright.

"Hayate, we have a problem."

Hayate struggled upwards as Nagi spoke, "And what," he winced "might that be, Milady?"

"She is good." Nagi admitted.

"Mistress Nagi!" A voice called from the other end of the mansion.

"Yes Veronica, what is it?"

Veronica appeared around the corner, catching herself before tripping on her skates again. "I would like you to see how my first room went."

"Wait, what?"

"I would like to show you the room I cleaned to have it fully inspected!" She smiled at Nagi. Nagi just twitched as Veronica led them across the halls.

* * *

Klaus's brow furrowed in understanding as Veronica's father spoke.

"Veronica, sweet and kind as she may be, never really forgave me for marrying Juliana. She went to the academy on her own because she wished to give us our privacy when we took our tour of the world."

"I still can't believe you and Ms. Belle have been so many places!" Klaus added excitedly. "Italy, France, Germany, Brazil, it is not surprising that little Ms. Veronica knows so many languages."

"She has a way to go before she passes her father." He smiled. Juliana, the wife, still clung to his arm.

"I am still confused though," Klaus said, brow furrowing further, "Why doesn't Ms. Juliana speak up about any of her experiences?" gesturing to her.

Juliana Belle looked up, noticing that she was being look at and the topic of the conversation. She opened her mouth, as if to speak, but then closed it. She lowered her eyes a touch dejectedly.

"She does not know Japanese." Matthias explained.

"Little." She piped up, smiling.

Klaus paused, thinking of one of his lesser familiar languages. "Do you enjoy the mansion?" He asked in thickly accented English.

"It is very nice. I apologize for not being able to speak Japanese well. I truly am." She bowed.

"Ms. Juliana Belle, it is absolutely fine."

"Please, call me Julie." She smiled.

Matthias was happy that the language barrier had been mostly averted.

"Ms. Julie. I would offer you tea. However, Mistress Nagi will order Ms. Veronica to serve us lunch soon."

"Oh, we must be going soon," Matthias interjected, seeming urgent.

"I insist. The Sanzenin's are always gracious hosts." That settled that matter. "Come." Klaus added, still in English, "I will show you our mansion."

Matthias helped Julie up, and the two followed the elderly Sanzenin butler out of the room.

* * *

Nagi's mouth gaped.

She honestly couldn't believe how obnoxiously clean the floor of the trophy room was. Veronica had yet to clean the trophies themselves, but it already looked as if she had started.

Hayate had once made this room look spotless. He knelt down to the carpet and gave it a sniff, confirming that Veronica could discern the appropriate fabric and treat it in a likewise appropriate manner.

"The wool carpet stumped me for a second longer, most houses have polyvinyl or nylon carpeting. I was impressed."

"Hayate, did she do it correctly?" Nagi questioned sharply.

"Yes Milady, with pinpoint accuracy." He nodded solemnly.

"In that case, I will be off to finish the rest!" Veronica flipped her single, shoulder length ponytail back to her left, and gently rolled out of the room.

Hayate and Nagi began walking outside of the room only to see her with her right hand planted on the ground, bent over and looking up. It was if she was playing American football, about to say "hike".

"Cutiepie ME Boost... ACTIVATE!" She vanished, darting forwards at blinding speeds, turning the corner once more.

"What a Knightmare that girl is..." Nagi grumbled, still wishing for a reason to fire her.

Quickly, Hayate grabbed her, and ran after the new maid.

* * *

**Ok, that settles one of the chapters. A few more to go.**

**I hope the references aren't too obtrusive, I work hard to make the story flow like an episode of the anime, this is a lot harder than I initially anticipated.**

****Chapter added 17:13, 2/20/2012


	6. Veronica's Weakness Discovered!

**Step two! When I'm done I can get food!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Veronica tore through the halls, cleaning each room with blinding speed. She estimated she was cleaning at a rate of 1.5 square meters a second. At this rate, she would be done with cleaning all of the floors within the hour. She avoided bathrooms and small constricted spaces, she would get those later.

"I wonder... if I manage to actually clean each room, if I will impress her further?" Veronica contemplated this, and slowed her rate down to approximately .75 square meters a second, but changed the units around to accommodate an extra meter of vertical volume

She may have slowed down, but she was no longer just tidying up the grounds. Now, she was cleaning the walls and objects within each room.

* * *

"Mr. Klaus, watch out!" Matthias shouted in Japanese at the old butler.

In an instant, the Belle patriarch had Klaus and Julie pinned against a wall. The next instant a whirl of scarlet color swept the hall, leaving sparkles in its wake.

"What in blazes was that thing?" Klaus shouted, upset that he was saved.

"My daughter packs a punch. When she is given orders, and follows through with them, it is hard to stop her zeal."

Klaus knelt down and swiped a finger on the ground. "Not a speck of dust... and at a speed that fast? She outperforms any social worker I have ever seen. Surely those European schools aren't all like this?"

"I am not entirely sure what sort of school she went to, but I assure you it was the best of the best, and the only reason she managed to get out so quickly was because they had nothing more to teach her." Matthias admitted, trying not to be boastful.

Klaus just looked down at the floor in wonder.

"If she is as good as you say..." Klaus blinked, thoroughly impressed. "Per-perhaps we should continue our tour?"

Klaus guided them along, trying to avoid Veronica if possible.

* * *

"Veronica!" Nagi called, the duo was in hot pursuit, "Stop right there!"

Veronica, skating forwards, took the command painfully literally, and froze all motor functions, smashing into the wall, and falling backwards.

Nagi and Hayate winced.

"Y-Y-Yes, my M-M-Mistress?" Veronica forced out.

"I would like you to do something else now." Nagi decided.

"But I haven't finished the-" Veronica stopped herself and hopped to her feet, gently standing upon her wheels. "And what would you have me do?" She smiled so wide her eyes began to close.

Nagi glanced at Hayate, making sure the difficulty of her idea. "I want to see how well you clean the bathrooms."

"Where shall I begin? Or do you have a preference?"

"Your choice."

The smile continued. "Very well. I take it you wish to observe me while I work?"

The two nodded.

"If that's the case, let's travel to the Mistress's private bathroom, so I can give a thorough demonstration." Veronica straightened herself, patted down her skirt with care, and casually skated forwards in the wooden halls. Hayate and Nagi walked behind her briskly.

* * *

Within a minute, stairs had been climbed, and the trio found themselves in Nagi's personal bedroom.

"Hayate, did you make my bed?" Nagi asked, confused.

"Yes Milady."

"How? You've been at my side since I woke up." Nagi retorted.

Hayate just smiled. Nagi blushed, but looked away to hide it.

Veronica glanced back at the two to observe. She contemplating commenting, but knew she was on a short leash.

"Well, here we are. Your master bathroom. Wow. This dwarves European luxury housing. Still not sure how it compares to American housing though... that one percent, blah." She waved a hand, dismissing her thoughts. "So, I need to clean this bathroom." She strolled in, "Bathtub needs a scrubbing, as do the tiles. Toilet... _bueso!_ Might as well replace that, it might be beyond my assistance." She opened the cabinet behind the main mirror and grimaced. "Mistress Nagi! All of these bottles of-" Veronica sighed.

She took a step back, looked at other key objects in the room. There was clutter around and behind a teak room divider, folded in a strange, unappealing fashion that irritated one's obsessive compulsive disorder.

Veronica's eye twitched. It was highly conceivable that she had an extreme case of OCD.

"Well then, I'll hop right to it!"

She pulled herself to the main sink, and began taking out all of Nagi's special bottles, ranging from perfume to facial creams, and removed them from every drawer beneath the sink and behind the mirror. Nagi's face turned red as Hayate had to see some of the objects taken out of these drawers. Some of them weren't generally seen by men.

In the matter of two and a half minutes, Veronica had opened each bottle, and, using only her sense of smell, determined whether or not it was still good or not. She had the pile organized into trash and not trash by the end of the first three minutes, and by the end five since she began, they were organized.

"You see, everything you have here is either hygienic or superficial. Hygienic items will be in the toppermost drawer, as it is the most important: do you know what it's like to kiss a girl with bad breath? I'm sure that man does." She gestured to Hayate. Nagi was flustered, unable to determine whether or not she was happy or angry with the new maid. "The superficial things can be divided further. You have your nail polishing items second to the bottom, because they are some sort of an accessory, and they include your toes, which are located towards the bottom of your body. I put anything I deemed distinctly ah- _feminine_ in the bottom drawer." She said, stashing away the feminine objects in the lower-most drawer. "Because we'd all like to forget they exist."

"Milady, I wasn't under the impression that-" Hayate tried to stop himself, but it was too late.

"That. What. Hayate?" Nagi's normally green eyes were replaced with fire, and she glared at him with the wrath of a dragon.

"Oh, nothing." Hayate smiled, trying to inch away.

"No, say it, I'm interested." Nagi tempted.

"It's just that- OW! Don't- Milady!" Nagi stomped on his foot, trying to break a toe.

"As I was saying," Veronica cut in, the two simmered down, reunited by a common foe, "_Those_, will go in the bottom drawer. Now, makeup items go into the middle drawers, here. Easily accessible. They are arranged in the same fashion the perfume is in the cabinet behind the mirror. On the left, you have the 'I am adorable! Look at me!' persona. And on the right, you have the more womanly 'Come here, boy' persona. Unfortunately, the sets just aren't complete. With your permission, I would love to go out and shop for some new additions to the latter persona."

Nagi's face was a red as Veronica's dress. "Y-yes, th-that might be a good idea."

"I'm glad!" Veronica held her hands together and tilted her head to one side, seemingly overjoyed.

"Now, to actually put them there, but first..." Veronica expertly cleaned off each bottle, dusting the tops and the insides of the drawers with a duster that seemed to materialize out of thin air. In half a minute, all of the bottles were organized and cleaned.

She then pulled out a cleaner from another drawer, somehow knowing it was there. She sprayed the inside of the sink with the cleaner, and wiped it thoroughly. She polished the piping, the faucet, the handles, being gentle as to not loosen anything. Just in case she did loosen anything, she used her bare hands as a wrench to tighten each one of the pipes, assuring their function.

She wiped the entire sink top clean, and backed away, letting the sparkles shine to Hayate and Nagi for a few seconds longer before she fell forwards onto the ground in the corner where the changing station presumably was.

"These clothes, some are genuinely not cared for, but, judging on the lack of dust collectivity of most of them, I can determine that they were deliberately placed there... around yesterday at 1500 hours, 3:00 in the afternoon... just a little bit after I sent my application and responded to Mr. Klaus."

A bead of sweat dropped from both Nagi and Hayate.

"No matter. These clothes here the Mistress wears nearly every day, this outfit is a size too small, she grabbed it from her old drawer, probably that one in the back of her closet there, and haphazardly placed it on the changing wall. But this one..." Veronica held up a black pair of panties, suspiciously lacking in the rear section.

Hayate gawked, and Nagi cringed.

"This neither appears to have fit the Mistress nor fits her at present. Which begs the question, what is its purpose, and where does it go? It is too big for Mistress Nagi now," Veronica said, looking at her, "and unless my Mistress has a dark side, then it has to belong to..."

"Maria would never wear something like that." Hayate looked down, shaking his head.

Somewhere in the upper limits of the atmosphere, an angry young woman pounded the force field preventing her fall to the planet.

"And why wouldn't I ever wear something like that Hayate? I can be a little adventurous too! I am only seventeen after all! I have my own fantasies!"

But the trio couldn't hear her.

"I guess that is a mystery for later." Veronica decided, tossing most of the old clothes into an unused hamper in the room across from the bathroom.

Veronica, on her knees, began sanitizing the floor, getting the hard to reach places first. She managed to get to the bathtub, where she paused. She glanced back at Nagi who was smiling evilly at her. What Veronica needed to do was clean the showerhead. Unfortunately, she needed to stand up in a slippery tub in roller skates to do that.

In spite, Veronica hopped into the tub, grabbing a side for stability. She stood up, reaching the shower head for a second, then her footing collapsed and she fell on her face in the tub.

Hayate watched the scene for a moment, but then was seriously worried for his safety when he realized beneath the skirt, Veronica's favorite color was red as well.

"EEK! Don't look you fool!" She yelped.

"Ha-Ya-Te." Nagi fumed, glowing with fire from the earth's core.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Hayate groveled.

"IDIOT!" Nagi slapped him, then sat content observing Veronica's failure.

_I'm too short._ Veronica concluded. _I need to... yes... that will work._

Grabbing hold of the side of the tub again, she hooked her roller skates to the lip of the bathtub, letting her front two wheels dangle over the edge. She held her hands on the wall and hooked her other foot in a similar fashion on the opposite end of the tub. Now, she scooted forwards with a spray and a cleaning rag to polish the showerhead.

Less than a minute later, the bathtub sparkled with a lustrous sheen.

And a few moments after that, the room was tidied, and made spotless, down to the very light switches, and up to the paintings on the walls.

The ceiling was avoided, which Hayate noted.

"What next?" Veronica asked eagerly.

"I am unsure. Resume with cleaning the floors as Hayate and I discuss your work." Nagi shooed her away.

Veronica took this opportunity to travel downstairs to clean more of the first floor.

"Milady, look," Hayate pointed out. "It may sound ridiculous, but, she didn't clean the ceiling."

Nagi nodded, smiling. "Good work Hayate. This Veronica has a weakness, and it is heights. She can't climb stairs with ease, and she can't get up much higher than she can reach."

Hayate nodded. "So what shall we do?"

"Fetch Tama, I'll fetch Veronica, and I will give her an impossible task."

"Yes Milady."

The two parted ways, each with plans to dispatch the new maid.

* * *

**Much ado about bathrooms. Ok, I liked writing parts of this chapter, it was sorta fun.**

****Chapter added 17:23, 2/20/2012


	7. Veronica Has No Weaknesses!

**This chapter makes me hungry...**

**Maybe this is because I haven't eaten since breakfast? Muhohoho. You guys can come first for once, it has been awhile since I prioritized you on top of much. (Of course I love my readers!)**

**Regardless, if you ever have any questions about the story, please talk to me. I love to discuss it.**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Nagi and Veronica meandered into the main lounge. The room was a large atrium with no floors above it. Ceiling fans above spun slowly, leisurely stirring the air. A loveseat sat in front of a vast television. The eight person couch, a lovely mauve trimmed, lavender color, had impressions of when Nagi used this room as a casual manga-reading spot. The tall windows lit the peach colored room up, livening everything within it.

The carpet needed to be vacuumed, Veronica noted.

"This room." Nagi gestured, "has been one of the most wildly cleaned rooms in the house. This is because it gets the dirtiest fastest. I am not interested in the room getting cleaned." Veronica turned her head, curious to see where this was going, "No. Instead, I want you to clean the ceiling fans."

Veronica opened her eyes a little wider, "Say again?"

"I didn't say it clearly the first time?"

"As you wish, Mistress Nagi, three cleaned ceiling fans coming right up."

Veronica analyzed the height of the fans, hanging at the top of the two and a half story room. Then she looked at her duster, which was only a foot long in reach. She needed to get up there. A ladder wouldn't be the most effective means, she'd fall because her feet wouldn't hook onto the steps correctly, especially because of her roller skates.

She licked her lips once as she smirked. She rolled her way to the couch, and pulled it forwards, making sure her feet were at 90 degree angles of the couch to gain traction to do this. Once it was relatively under the fans, she placed one foot on the couch, and pushed down on it to get a feel for it.

_What the hell is she thinking? _Nagi wondered.

Veronica turned to Nagi and let loose a withheld breath.

"It's been a long time since I did this, but there is a critical point inside of every couch. If you land on it in the right fashion, it bounces you back up with three times the force."

"I've never heard of such a thing." Nagi stated.

"I learned it in the European schools." Veronica replied, as if that answered everything.

She wheeled her way to behind the couch, and paused. With a few pushes, she leapt from the ground and landed on the couch, square in the middle of one of the cushions.

She went up in the air, but not nearly 3 times as high, nor upwards. No, Veronica landed on her face in front of the couch.

Nagi fell over in ludicrous laughter.

"Cripes, how do I do this again?" Veronica glared at the couch.

She repositioned herself behind the couch once more.

"So ye want to play hardball with me, eh?" She grumbled aloud, closing her eyes in mild meditation.

"You stupid maid, there's no such thing as a-" As Nagi spoke, Veronica leapt once more onto the couch, this time though, she rebounded into the air, sailing upwards towards the fans.

Nagi's mouth dropped as Veronica's altitude climbed.

"And that ought to leave three and a half seconds to..." Veronica mumbled, swiping down the fans in a few deft moves.

"Ho-Ho-How did you just d-d-do that?" Nagi took a step back as Veronica landed on her wheels gracefully.

"I told you, I landed on the critical point of the couch. I factored my puny weight into the equation, tampered with a few variables, and found the critical point. Luckily I can do this still."

"But you jumped two stories," Nagi felt faint.

"Yes, what of it?"

"How-what-when- can you teach me?"

"You'd have to be pretty well trained." Veronica chuckled. "If you really want to, after we go shopping I could start."

Nagi winced. She realized that this girl was making herself rather comfortable at the mansion already, as if she was certain she was going to be living there.

This was an impossibility. Nagi knew deep inside that she could never replace Maria, and was determined to make sure that this girl could never take her place.

Veronica just smiled as she wheeled towards the hallways to continue cleaning the floors.

"You just wait to you face my lovely pet Tama." Nagi growled.

Upstairs, the sound of a tussle had begun. Nagi winced; she had forgotten that Tama and Hayate weren't the best of friends. She may have had faith in Hayate's ability to survive, but she felt mildly guilty about setting him against the tiger.

"Milady!" Klaus addressed his mistress, appearing out of thin air in front of Mr. and Mrs. Belle.

"Don't scare me like that old man!"

"I'm sorry Ms. Nagi, but, I believe our guests are hungry. Shall we have Ms. Belle serve us all? Where is Hayate?"

"He, uh, well, he's upstairs fetching Tama. I think he can be excused from dinner." Nagi smiled sheepishly.

Nagi looked at the clock, since Veronica's arrival, it had been a good few hours. It was now nearing 3 o'clock, and marking nearly 5 hours since Nagi last ate. She was decently hungry.

An early supper, late lunch, couldn't hurt.

"Veronica!" Nagi called loudly, given her initial impression of Veronica, the girl would've been halfway around the mansion by now.

"Yes Mistress Nagi?" Veronica materialized behind her, causing her to jump.

Regaining her composure, Nagi gave her orders. "Veronica, I would like to be served supper."

"At such an early hour? Yes your ladyship." Veronica was learning not to question the motives of her new master. "What would you like?"

Nagi pondered this question. She didn't want the Zinged chicken again, that would be boring. No, she felt something with meat, beef, in particularity. The mashed potatoes of last night were delicious, and she wanted something of similar nature, but she was also craved something crunchy like chicken tenders out of a fast food restaurant.

And she wanted it fairly soon.

Veronica's eyes glimmered as she stared at Nagi, waiting for a response.

"I am unsure." Nagi lied, knowing fairly well what she decided, "you pick."

Veronica smiled. "Very well. I will make it a surprise."

At this, Nagi was intrigued.

"Mr. Klaus," Matthias asked, "I require to use a restroom, you know, wash up a tad before I eat, if I may be so excused."

"Of course, right down that hall and to the right. We will be in the dining room in a few moments, same hall, different direction, third to last door on what would be your right."

"My deepest thanks." Matthias bowed deeply, and his tall frame disappeared towards the bathroom.

"Follow me, Madam." Klaus said to Julie in his deeply accented English.

"Thank you." She replied smiling.

"I will be in the kitchen Mistress Nagi," Veronica explained, dashing away to the kitchen, a room away from the dining room.

The moment Veronica was about to open the door to the kitchen, it opened.

"Ah, Veronica, fancy seeing you here." Matthias Belle smiled at her.

"Dad! I was just going to cook her a-"

"Beef Croquette, I know. That's why I already have had the paste whipped up and broiled, and I even wrapped it around nice slabs of beef. You should see their stores, it is fantastic even by _my_ standards. I added a little vegetable crumble to the breading as well. All you have to do is deep fry them, and serve it. That shouldn't take more than a couple minutes, correct?"

"Shi' du mok tez nal! Vator! Vy du bech!" She angrily pushed him against the doorway, even though he was nearly two and a half feet taller than her.

"Now, now, no need to get feisty deary. I simply gave you a nudge in the right direction. To guess what is on one's mind is one trick in and of itself. But predicting what one will think before they think it, and act on it, that takes guts. You have much to learn, daughter."

"You cheated anyways!" She roared in a hushed voice, pushing him once more.

"So? Now, if I remember correctly... I just said I was going to the bathroom... well... lemme see." Matthias walked outside the hall and glanced down it towards the bathroom. Sure enough, the sound of a door closing could be heard at the far end of the hall, presumably the bathroom.

A flicker of light beneath that door provoked a smile from Matthias.

"Well, I'll be off to clean my hands up. Have fun playing maid my radiant little doll."

Veronica grit her teeth as her father elegantly strode out of the kitchen.

She huffed, patted her skirt down once more, and investigated what her father had already done.

Sure enough, it was as he said. There were bread-rolls containing beef, coated in crumbs and microscopic vegetable particles. A small vat on a stove had just begun boiling with oil.

She huffed again. Her father took all the fun out of her job.

"Well, perhaps I can put a little flare to it all the same?" She smiled wickedly.

Her arms and legs blurred with speed as she began concocting something more.

* * *

Nagi, Klaus and Juliana had just sat down at the table, making themselves feel comfortable.

"So you're her mother?" Nagi asked to Mrs. Belle.

Juliana looked up, noting Nagi was looking at her, sighed, and looked back down.

"I no know Japanese." She said poorly. Nagi giggled, making the poor lady lower her head in shame.

"Mistress Nagi! That is not proper!" Klaus argued.

"Oh who cares? She'll be gone later today, hopefully with this maid who can't do anything right." Nagi promised herself, knowing full well it was a lie, and that Veronica exceeded any and all expectations thrust upon her.

"Mistress, I haven't found a reason to fire her yet..." Klaus admitted.

"So, you're her mother?" Nagi asked in fluent English.

"I apologize," Julie said in crude Japanese before continuing in English, "I am her father's wife." She confirmed.

"But you didn't give birth to her?" Nagi pondered in her own language, "that would explain the difference in appearance." In English once more, "Does she have any form of weakness that you know of?"

Klaus shot her a look.

Julie looked up at the chandelier, ruminating.

"I can say, with utmost honesty, that she does not have a weakness." Julie answered.

Nagi winced. That was the wrong answer.

At that moment, Matthias Belle walked in.

"Ah, hello! I am sorry, that took a touch longer than anticipated." He sat down next to his wife.

"You weren't gone for more than a minute you doof." Nagi grunted, shifting her legs in her chair.

Matthias smiled widely at her. "Even so."

"So what, we just wait here for her to finish cooking? Ugh, I could be playing my Wii..." She grumbled, lolling her head back.

A voice from the kitchen echoed throughout the dining room. "Veronica Quasar Belle, now presents your dinner!" The doors snapped open, and a red blur dashed out with multiple platters all balanced on top of her miniscule form.

A small tune appeared in the dining room as the red blur delivered 4 individual platters to the four people sitting down. Nagi pushed herself into her throne of a chair as the platter appeared, then forks and knives, a napkin, and then she looked up to see Veronica, skating _backwards_ with her eyes closed smiling, taking off the lids of each platter.

In the matter of thirty seconds, dinner had been successfully served.

"Well Mistress Nagi?" Veronica smiled, now stationary at her side. "Dig in."

Nagi gazed incredulously. Beef Croquette was essentially was she had in mind, and to top it off, a baked potato with a touch of cheddar cheese.

"How the hell did you do that?" Nagi demanded. It hadn't been more than a minute since she began cooking.

Veronica smiled, curtsied, and humbly boasted the truth, "Nothing is impossible for me."

Nagi looked back at the food and had to agree with her. Beef Croquette takes a long time, nearly thirty minutes to properly set so that it can be fried. The baked potatoes can take an upwards of an hour, especially if they were twice baked, which they were.

Mathematically, speaking, to properly make a dinner this eloquent in that little amount of time was not physically possible. That gave Nagi two ideas. Either the food was poorly cooked, and only looked perfect, or she had help.

She took a bite into the food, and her mind melted in ecstacy. The crunch of the fried shell of the beef croquette gently gave way to her teeth as she bit down, and the extraordinarily succulent meat blended with it to form a putty of tasty flavors that Nagi could not resist for longer than the time it took her to swallow and take another bite. The potato was the same in concept, perfectly cooked.

This ruled out plan one. Which elicited a glare at Juliana and Matthias Belle.

"Klaus, were those two with you all day?"

"I gave them a tour of the mansion."

"They never left your side though?"

"Aside from Matthias using the restroom right before dinner, that was the first time I left either unattended." Klaus reported.

_This is too strange. That isn't possible. It just can't happen that way. Unless..._

"European Maid Schools are a breed apart." Veronica bowed, answering Nagi's mental question.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Veronica asked humbly.

"Read my mind?"

"Oh, no, I simply saw the puzzled look on your face after you ate. Presumably you were confused as to how I did that. Whilst maintaining my aura of secrecy, I informed you that my schooling was divine, and hoped that that would clear up the befuddlement." Veronica smiled.

Nagi was weirding out.

"Mistress Nagi, just enjoy your food for now, I will continue cleaning the floors. If you need me, just call." With a large, warm smile, Veronica dashed off.

"Still thinking about trying to fire her?" Klaus daintily nibbled at his food.

"Shut up." Nagi growled.

* * *

**Yep, I'm hungry.**

Chapter added 17:40, 2/20/2012

8


	8. Acceptance!

**I'm flying now! This'll be a breeze! Just lay back and enjoy the ride!**

* * *

"Tama, please! Stop this!" Hayate yelped as Tama lunged.

"I was enjoying my catnap very well until you came along!" Tama, the Sanzenin Tiger, roared at him. It was a long withstanding gag that Tama could speak, but only Hayate knew this.

"You were reading that yaoi magazine in the corner! You weren't napping!" Hayate pointed out the obvious.

Tama glared at him, nails extended.

Tama huffed, but still decided to maul Hayate.

"Won't you please join our plot?" Hayate begged.

"To ruin the new maid?"

"She's replacing Maria." Hayate added coyly.

"She's a goner."

Tama joins the party!

Tama immediately became docile, and began questioning Hayate about this plot.

"What would you have me do, precisely?"

"You're a tiger. I don't know, how did you react when I appeared in the mansion?"

"You attacked me. Oh that was a good fun day, until I hurt Maria's flowers... I miss her." Tama whined. "If I kill this new not-Maria made, then Maria will surely come back."

Surely, Tama's logic was indisputable.

Hayate gave the smile one gives when they think the people around them are taking things too far. "Well, maybe killing her is a bit much?"

"NOT AT ALL!" Tama roared. "She thinks she can replace Maria? Never!"

Tama lay on the bed, pondering what he should do next. "I've got it. I'll attack you, and when this new maid comes up, I'll kill her! Mistress Nagi will certainly reward me for the girl's head."

Hayate nodded his head in agreement until he realized what this entailed.

Tama lunged, and their bestial tussle began again.

"Milady! Help!" Hayate cried out, partially acting.

* * *

"Milady! Help!" A cry was heard somewhere near the second floor of the mansion. Nagi panicked for a moment worried for her Hayate, but then remembered that he was practically invincible.

She figured it must be a signal to begin the next phase in getting rid of Veronica.

"Veronica!"

"Yes, Mistress Nagi?" Veronica appeared.

"We need to get Hayate. Something tells me that he is in trouble."

"Hayate? He seems so misleadingly strong though! Very well. I shall assist you in getting there quickly. Second floor, which room?"

"It is one of the ones next to mine, I'll show you." Nagi smirked inwardly.

* * *

The door was opened to a dreadful scene. Hayate was bleeding profusely, Tama's take on 'fun' no doubt, the room was a wreck, unintentionally in all honesty, and a large White Tiger glowered menacingly at the two new interlopers.

"Eek!" Nagi managed, jumping away from Veronica, leaving the girl defenseless against the ferocious beast. In the next moment, Tama dove at the new maid, claws outstretched.

"Ooh, kitty." Veronica smiled, holding out a single hand.

The next moment was a complicated one for both Nagi and Hayate, and Tama, to a lesser extent.

Tama froze instantaneously, and began purring. All Veronica had done was placed a hand under his chin. Gently scratching at it, she used her other hand his chest, immediately beginning a tantalizing massage that Tama could only continue purring at.

Nagi and Hayate could no longer control their dropping jaws.

"How-?" Nagi stammered, falling backwards looking at the new maid with fear and awe.

"All maids should come equipped with the proper massage techniques for White African Tigers, didn't you read my resume?"

"But there _are_ no tigers in Africa!" Nagi noted in protest.

Veronica smiled as she began petting more of Tama. "Even so." She giggled.

Hayate cringed in pain and defeat. He spilled his blood for nothing.

"Tama, get out of here." Nagi barked, pointing out the door.

Tama, though immobilized, rolled to his side and trudged away.

"So I take it he is a luxury pet of the estate?" Veronica asked.

"Yes."

"I see. Good thing I didn't utilize my final move on that poor tiger. There wouldn't have been much left of him!" She giggled once more, and rolled to Hayate. "I imagine you've seen worse. Let's get you fixed up." She picked up Hayate with relative ease, and gently began roller skating alongside Nagi.

Nagi was relatively worried. The fact that the new maid managed to defeat Tama with one hand was distressing, but even more distressing was that somehow Hayate had become unresponsive.

"Hayate! Speak up!" She demanded, unwilling to cry.

"He'll be good. He only lost so much blood. He doesn't even need an IV right now. He just needs a little bed-rest and some stitchery."

"You're not going to send him to the hospital?" Nagi wondered.

"Why should I? I am licensed in America by the Emergency Medical Services. First Aid is second nature to me." Veronica affirmed.

Once the trio entered a room with a first aid kit, Veronica immediately went to work. Kneeling on the bed next to Hayate, refusing to stand for this precarious task, she pulled out a needle and some surgical thread, along with some gauze and isopropyl alcohol.

She closed one eye and bit her tongue.

She swabbed the edge of the needle with the alcohol, sterilizing it. She threaded it, and went to work. She'd use more alcohol to swab the wounds, cleaning them, and gently pulled the deep gashes of Hayate's skin back together almost seamlessly. This fact is so that the audience can imagine Hayate scarless, as if he had never been mauled by a large White Tiger.

Hayate winced in pain as the alcohol went into his wounds. It burned.

"Don't contract any muscle Hayate, relax." Veronica commanded.

Hayate tried his best not to move.

"Sleep Hayate, just rest for a little bit." Nagi recommended.

"Do you want me to knock him out?" Veronica asked sweetly, finishing up her stitchery.

"Well if he's done... I don't see a need for that."

"Very well. Shall I continue cleaning the floors?"

Nagi sighed, Hayate was safe, and her own reckless plans to get rid of this maid had nearly killed him. What was worse, was that the maid really wasn't that bad. She was great. She cooked deliciously, she was genuinely friendly, always smiling, never complaining, and she was devilishly fast at everything she did. She couldn't find a reason to fire her. She saved Hayate, after all. Veronica was staying, whether or not she liked it or not.

"Yes, go do that." Nagi answered, dejectedly.

"With pleasure, Mistress Nagi." And Veronica left Nagi and Hayate to one another.

Nagi paused for the door to shut as she looked at Hayate regretfully.

"She's really good." He let out after an eternity of silence.

"I know. She can't replace Maria, but... we have to find her though..." Nagi determined.

"Milady..." Hayate sighed, "thank you for staying by my side."

Nagi turned red. "W-well," Nagi could not convey that she was worried for him. That was weakness. "I couldn't just stand to let my main butler get mauled by a tiger."

Somewhere in the mansion, an elderly man gasped in agony as his presence was disregarded.

"Milady..." Hayate saw straight through her guise. He knew that she was worried, and her failed attempts at hiding it only made him smile inwardly even more.

_Even if I don't have Maria, Milady will always be there._ This thought was comforting in a strange sort of way. The smile he gave was not one that most see in their lifetimes. It was the elated contraction of oral muscles, heavily restricted due to recent stitching, reflecting not only one's mindset, but also the innermost workings of their soul. Hayate's very essence was smiling at his mistress.

And Nagi absorbed all of it.

POORBOY used SMILE.

And she turned red, as she always did. She couldn't control it. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She wanted to kiss him and force him into loving her, but lacked the guts to let her mouth move on its own.

So she found a way out.

It's super effective!

"I-I'm going to go write my manga, see you Hayate."

Wild RICHGIRL fled!

Hayate smiled all the same, and laid his head back to rest for just a moment. He fell asleep shortly after.

* * *

Nagi was in her study, working furiously on a new manga. Recently, her adoration for Hayate was not something she could get away from easily. The manga became a form of diary, a fantasy book of how she wanted the relationship to function.

Of course, there were explosions, wild romance, and evil villains that never stayed dead in her manga that didn't really appear in real life the way she liked them too, but she didn't really care. Hayate openly showed his affection for her here.

Sort of, he wasn't really Hayate in the manga. He was some form of samurai warrior with technological superpowers that made him nearly invincible.

It was just a drabble really, nothing much, just an unnamed little thing between a girl and a boy who were oddly reminiscent of Hayate and herself.

Nagi sighed, unable to come up with any wild ideas for her and Hayate. She threw her head back her chair as her pen laid fell flat on the table. It wasn't coming to her.

Rolling her head back and forth, she agonizingly pulled at her hair.

_Why won't it come to me?_

Nagi focused inwardly, attempting to find something within herself that would ease her manga.

Her stomach rumbled.

Her hands darted to her abdomen, morbidly embarrassed by her humanity.

"Fine, I'll have a snack..." Nagi wandered off, knowing a walk might jog her brain for some ideas.

She left the door wide open.

Veronica happened by the door soon after. She began mechanically cleaning each square inch of the floor, but stopped around the desk. Nagi's pen had fallen off the desk when she stormed out, and the new maid decided to place it back on the table.

"Now what might this be?" She asked aloud, picking up the grossly unfinished work.

* * *

Nagi walked in and spilled her milk on the floor. She gritted her teeth in furious rage as she saw the new maid reading her private Hayate fantasy manga.

"What. The hell. Do you think. You're doing?" Nagi demanded, dropping her entire snack on the floor. There were flames sparking out of her eyes.

"Oh, reading this manga." She admitted. "Fairly well written, a touch of action, a touch of comedy, centered around the tenuous relationship of a super hunky dude and a lovely maiden, and their trips around the universe." She twirled on her skates, "Makes me a bit bubbly."

Nagi fell to the floor, shocked. No one had blatantly liked her stories like that, the last one was a robot, and that didn't count because he was programmed to be the perfect replacement for Hayate.

"At first, I thought it was storebought, which shocked me because I myself don't have it." Nagi started bubbling inside, another manga fan in her life, neither Maria nor Hayate truly understood, "but then I saw that there was no ending. This leads me to believe that you either are that obnoxiously rich, to buy the hardcopy before it is finished, or are that talented at writing."

Her breathing intensified. It was almost like falling in love.

"So, what happens next?" Veronica begged.

The fire in Nagi's eyes was replaced with stars, and she gleamed at Veronica.

"Well," Nagi began, constraining herself, "I guess I have this plan where-"

"They embrace passionately and make love?" Veronica clapped excitedly.

Nagi broke down, her reserved demeanor melted away, "No! They can't do that so soon!" she was blushing like mad, "First, they must have an epic fight together against an evil space alien-"

As Nagi and Veronica fangirled onwards, a blue blur picked up the spilled milk and cookies that Nagi had dropped, and cleaned the floor.

Hayate looked at Veronica and Nagi chatting away like best friends about her manga. He smiled for her, and closed the door quietly.

* * *

Klaus bowed at the Belle family as the exited the mansion's front doors, back to their car.

"I apologize for you not being able to say goodbye to your daughter. It appears that she and the mistress have become very good friends." It had been only an hour since Veronica had entered the room and began talking with Nagi, fantasizing alongside her all of the story ideas she had for her manga.

"It is perfectly reasonable. I knew it would work out between all of you. You'll find her to be an invaluable worker. It pains me to see her working so far away from home," he almost looked about to cry, "but I know she's in good hands, and vice versa as well. She will treat you all very well." Matthias opened his mouth to say more, but was cut off.

"But certainly you must be concerned without saying goodbye?" Klaus interjected.

"Not in the slightest. She is a big girl now."

"Her age is terribly misleading..."

"I assure you, she is well over 16 years old." Matthias affirmed.

"If you insist. Well, Juliana, Matthias, is has been a pleasure."

"It certainly has Mr. Klaus. We will drop by sometime in a few months or so to check up on her." Matthias spoke.

Julie attempted a formal goodbye in Japanese, "Your services have pleasured me."

Klaus coughed nervously into his sleeve.

"Julie, honey, let's get in the car before you attempt anymore Japanese, ok?" Matthias said in perfect English.

"Did I say something wrong?" Julie asked, being shooed into the car.

"No no, not exactly, I'll tell you later." Matthias said, getting into the driver's seat. He called out to Klaus once more in Japanese, "Farwell sir. It definitely has been a pleasure."

The small black side-door shut and the car drove away.

* * *

"Man, that was tiring." Julie sighed, lying back in the seat, running her hands through her hair.

"I know, you did well." Matthias craned his neck, as if loosening something.

"I got to be married to you for a day! Naturally I did well! This-"

"Is the happiest day of your life. I know, my fair Julie." The man patted her hair, smiling warmly.

She beamed, and then was silent, resting her eyes. "This jet-lag is killing me. It's nearly 4:00 in the morning back home... But I wouldn't trade an adventure with you for anything."

Matthias seemed to hum.

He looked at her, eyes glowing in the dim of the cab. "She says thank you, by the way." He blinked, thinking, "For the idea to wear the roller skates, by the way."

"Did she just tell you that?"

"Yep."

"Did she tell you not to tell me?"

"Yep."

Julie smiled her boyfriend's daughter was adorable in her own respects.

"Just sleep, you'll be home in a couple hours, and then it's back to work with me."

Julie whimpered. "That's not very fair."

"I'll tell you all about my latest triumph once it's over." He affirmed.

"Ooh goodie, another story." Julie sighed with her eyes closed. "That girl and that boy... they did seem very nice." She pondered allowed.

"It is so much more complicated than that, Julie," Matthias chuckled, "my little daughter is going to have her work cut out for her."

And the two drove off into the dusking night.

* * *

**I am a little iffy on some of the references in this particular chapter, but otherwise I'm good. One more remains.**

****Chapter added 17:55, 2/20/2012


	9. The Dark Side has Cuties not Cookies

**Last one of this block! Hope y'all enjoy!**

**All I have to do is read this through to the end, make edits along the way, say something funny at the end and come up with a title for the chapter, then I can eat lots of warm yummy food from my college cafeteria. Ooh boy, I can taste that soup now...**

**After reading part of this, I want to apologize. I try to hold true to my ratings when I make them, but this episode sorta pushes those ratings... Heh heh...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Veronica and Nagi sat on Nagi's bed chatting about everything. All walls were breached after the manga topic was broached, so Nagi spent most of her time pestering Veronica about details about herself, as if to add her into the manga.

"You see, because I've been traveling for so long, I never really got to sit down and make many friends."

"All alone, traveling the world?" Nagi asked with intent. She may as well have been taking notes. "Go on."

"I went to Europe when I was 12, I graduated from high school. My father was an exceptional teacher and had me learn calculus, physics, and chemistry before I was ten. This allowed me to finish high school very rapidly. I mainly took business and culinary classes in high school, being able to test out of all of the core classes before I took them. That's when I went to Europe for the Maid Academy."

"Maid Academy?"

"I'm not really allowed to talk about it." She stared elsewhere. "But there are a lot of cute boys in Europe. That is what I am allowed to talk about."

Nagi froze. This girl before her, though seeming a little younger than her, was actually a year or so older than her. Was she well versed with men? Maria claimed she was, but Nagi knew that she had never been with a boy before. Perhaps Veronica has had a boyfriend before? Maybe she had...

Nagi flustered.

"What do you mean by that?" Nagi began to ask. "I mean... uh..."

"Nagi... you don't mean to tell me that you've... never..."

"No! Ok? I've only been dating Hayate! And he doesn't really treat me as a girlfriend! So, it is... I don't even know..." Nagi fell on her back, still kneeling.

"Really?" Veronica asked, sounding surprised.

"I still don't know what it is like to,"

"Sleeping with a guy is a tricky business." Veronica tried to respond to her comment.

"W-WHAT! I DIDN'T MEAN IT THAT WAY!" Nagi panicked. "I've... never... kissed a boy before... Well... not on the lips."

"Oh I'm so sorry... Someone of your age and stature, it surprises me, frankly." Veronica explained.

Nagi rolled onto her side hugging a pillow. "He just doesn't treat me like a girlfriend. He only hugs me in extreme circumstances; he doesn't even ogle me like the other girls."

Veronica scowled. "Hmm. That is odd. Perhaps he swings _that_ way?"

Nagi remembered the magazines under his bed, "B-B-But he asked _me_ out."

"I will investigate this for you." Veronica stated after a few moments of thought.

"How?"

"I'm going to go see why he doesn't want to kiss you."

Nagi waved her hands in panic, "Don't say it so openly! Be a bit more discreet!"

"Of course. I would love to see my mistress happy." Veronica placed a hand on Nagi's cheek, "and what better way than to get her man to love her openly? How can he resist your cute face?"

Nagi blushed a little.

"Hey! You don't swing that way, do you?" Veronica demanded.

"NO! I am saving myself for Hayate!" She declared violently.

"I get ya, I get ya." Veronica backed away.

"I take it... you've... and boys?"

"Oh yeah." Veronica affirmed. "What boy can resist a cute girl in a maid outfit? It is a little different in Europe, especially where that maid academy was."

Nagi flustered. Veronica succeeded where her friends had failed.

"How many guys?"

"I had about fifty like me, but I only let about ten take me out on dates," _Ten boyfriends! _"But I only let a select few take me home."

Nagi's mouth crept open in shock.

"You've..."

"Yeah. I liked them, they were cute and all, really romantic, I thought each might be the one. But, nope. Didn't meet my overall expectations."

"Is it..."

"Yeah it's awesome. But it sucks the next day if they're not there with you."

Maria did not have such experience.

"Do you think you could help me?" Nagi asked.

"I am required to help you in anything you want, am I not?" Veronica coyly reminded her.

"Ahh, that's right." Nagi pondered the prospect of having a maid, a friend, knowledgeable in such fields. _Best to not ask everything at once._ Nagi concluded.

"I'll work on your love life, rest assured." Veronica smiled.

Nagi smiled back, and the two casually talked through the evening.

* * *

An hour or so later, Veronica lay in bed next to Nagi. She grit her teeth angrily.

"This is so stupid," she muttered inaudibly. "She wanted me to sleep next to her, the baby, afraid of the dark. This isn't working out the way I planned."

Nagi shifted in bed, and Veronica used this opportunity to roll out of it. Landing on the floor on all fours, Veronica froze, waiting for Nagi to get settled again.

She grumbled once more, "She even tried to get me into pajamas. I don't sleep in pajamas!" It was a harsh whisper. "I..." Veronica looked around, standing up. "I need to find that hottie."

She patted her skirt down and rolled out of the room swiftly.

* * *

Hayate relaxed in the Sanzenin Spa downstairs. It had been a long day. Since Veronica arrived, Hayate had been running after her. Then there was the whole getting-mauled-by-the-pet-tiger incident. After that, apparently Nagi and Veronica hit it off. Hayate was glad that Nagi accepted her, and he himself was willing to accept the new maid.

She was strong, fast, efficient, and seemed to care enough about the job and his mistress. Of course, it might only be a temporary fix, but until the issue with Maria was resolved, she would certainly do.

Hayate had worked on tidying a few things up after Nagi befriended Veronica, but there was much work to do. He had neglected the house to try to ward off Veronica, after all.

But, he took this opportunity to ruminate in the hot tub, relaxing himself for a nice warm bath.

_Maybe the whole Veronica thing is a good deal?_ Hayate thought as he lowered his shoulders into the hot bath. _She is sort of cute in a weird way. With her crimson dress, she really pulls off the cool look rather well. It is hard to think she is sixteen though. She hardly looks older than Mistress Nagi, and _she _doesn't look her age._

Hayate reaffirmed himself aloud. "She is really cute though."

The door slid open on the other side of the room.

Wrapped only in a white towel, her hat off, Veronica walked, not rolled, into the spa area. Her clothing could be seen just inside the small changing room from which she appeared, her roller skates too. Her skin was glimmering and smooth, even from across the way.

Her hair was a little strange without the hat. It fell, rather widely, from the top of her head, almost as if the hat had never been taken off. Most of her hair was clumped into a large ponytail which hung from the left side of her hair.

But her legs were stranger. As she walked, it looked grotesque and painful. Her legs, up until the lower half of her shin, were fine looking. But everything covered by the skates was bizarre and malformed. It looked like the skin was stretched taut across a really rigid frame. Her bones were pointy near her toes, nearly jutting out of the skin it seemed. Stranger yet, she could not walk on the sole of her foot, it didn't exist. It was just a mush of skin and bone. She only walked on the tips of her toes.

But that didn't stop her from walking into the pool in an otherwise delicate manner.

Hayate stared, but looked away as she removed the towel.

_I am in a hot tub with a girl near my age that is naked. This is wonderful. But, this does not feel right._

"Ahh," she moaned, "This water feels so good. I'm glad to have chosen a good place." She loudly let out excitedly.

The moaning sounds were not helping Hayate's case. He had to make his presence known.

"Uh, M-Ms. Veronica, you are aware that I am here, right?"

"Why else was I moaning?" She said from across the way, in plain sight of Hayate.

"I- uh," Hayate gulped.

From the other side of the hot bath, Veronica's eyes transfixed themselves on Hayate. Her face was partially submerged.

"You know Hayate," she began slowly moving through the water towards Hayate, "Nagi is asleep. I doubt she would hear anything." There was a tint of mischief in her voice.

"I- uh," there weren't too many things to say to this.

"I always liked you, you know. I saw that you worked here when I applied. I sorta decided then."

"Mistress Nagi doesn't want me to do anything to the maids." Hayate reminded himself aloud.

"What's one night she won't know about going to do?" Veronica continued approaching.

Hayate could see her form coming into detail as she made her way towards him.

_I feel that my life is in mortal danger. I feel that my life is in mortal danger. I am in peril. I should run away right now._

"Come on Hayate, I've seen the way you've been looking at me." _I haven't been looking at her until just now! And I want to look away now because it isn't appropriate to look at girls like this!_

"Hayate..." Veronica crooned as she came even closer. She couldn't have been more than ten feet away.

_My life is in danger. My life is in danger. My life is in danger._

"Kiss me?" Veronica begged, closing the gap at 7 feet.

"No thank madam!" Hayate jumped from the water and landed on deck.

"I won't take no for an answer!" She cried out, lunging from within the water with the speed of a shark. She ended with her chest pushed up against the wall at the end of the pool, arms outstretched towards Hayate.

Her eyes seemed to be either heavily reflective or glowing.

Hayate stood, as naked as he was, staring back at her, scared and unsure of what to do next.

"Gosh Hayate, didn't think you'd present yourself to a girl you hardly know. You're so scandalous." Veronica teased.

"That's-That's because you tried to make a move on me!"

"Do you want me to come out of the water too? I'm sure you'd love to see-"

Hayate was already dried and changed before she could complete her sentence.

Veronica's flirty smile was replaced with something evil as it twisted upwards into a vile smirk.

* * *

Hayate went back into his bedroom and locked the door. He set the alarm and lie in his pajamas in bed.

"What was that all about? Sure she's cute, but... forward? So forward! I... Milady wouldn't like me to do anything without her permission. I'm going to try to avoid this new maid until we find Maria... Assuming... assuming she's coming back..."

Hayate's life may have just entered a new, dark chapter.

A bang on the door later caused his eyes to flash open, and then he feigned sleep as Veronica whispered through the door.

"Nighty night, Mr. Ayasaki." Laughter followed, and Hayate shivered.

* * *

Veronica was now fully dressed up and ready to go. It may have been somewhere around midnight but she was unfazed.

She began cleaning the floors with a Swiffer, deciding that the vacuum was too loud for the sleeping denizens of the mansion.

She smiled. Everything was going according to plan so far.

* * *

**Do you think I pushed the rating? What do you think of Veronica, or more generally, the whole Belle family? They are new, so their personalities I am still checking.**

**I am eager to hear your opinions! I hope you enjoyed reading this block of Hoshi Shirushi Kara Futte Gotazoku, I think I may continue this block method. Unless anyone has a problem with it, that is.**

**More coming soon.**

**... And we get to play with a few other Hayate no Gotoku characters then!**

****Chapter added 18:08, 2/20/2012


	10. Timeline established!: XT vs Maria pt1!

**How could I forget all of you? (I didn't! Promise! Just really busy FINISHING MY FRESHMAN YEAR OF COLLEGE!)**

***ahem***

**Well, it is a measly chapter, but it is something. I have more for you later, I just have to tinker around, most of the next chapters were written in my sleep... so they aren't terrific. This one has been checked up, it's good. It also gives you a perspective of what is to come.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Maria sighed and assumed the position. Her hands gripped the rod firmly as she bent over slightly, eyes focused on a small hole on the other end of the hallway.

_Why am I playing golf again?_

"Because! I felt it would be a good waste of time!" XT, her robot captor, cheered, "We can't have you up here doing nothing the whole time! Besides, I get bored. There is nothing for me to do in the plot for a long, long while."

Maria cursed under her breath, the mind-reading was getting boring fast. "Why do you speak as if you have planned everything... this is a dumb question, isn't it?"

XT grinned, "why yes, yes it is."

Maria let loose another sigh, and swung.

"Hole in one, not bad!" XT complimented.

"Of course, from what you've told me, your processing speed is fast enough to calculate every variable necessary to do just what I did."

"Indeed. That is why I will get better than a hole in one on this shot."

"Figures." Maria huffed.

XT swung his putter with a gentle ease, and the ball rolled away speedily towards the hole. The ball rolled around the rim at a dizzying speed, and landed in the hole. The rotational force of XT's ball was then transferred to Maria's already sunk ball, and it popped out due to the sheer magnitude of the spin.

Maria's ball rolled back to the place she had originally shot it from.

Her eye twitched.

"What can I say? I'm awesome."

Rather than debating that statement, Maria tried to get some information out of XT. He had just gotten back to the space ship, which concerned Maria. _Where was he all of yesterday?_

"Why are you getting back now?" She asked.

"Oh, I was busy with some stuff. Setting some pawns places. On a completely unrelated topic, did you hear that you've been replaced at the mansion?"

Maria dropped her putter.

"Really? I-I lost my job? H-How could they..." Maria closed her eyes, and her demeanor returned to her.

"It is only a temporary solution. The Sanzenin SP's are looking for you."

"But they're useless..." Maria's mouth creaked open hopelessly.

"Rest assured, everything is going to work out wonderfully. After I sell you back for the Sanzenin Estate you can help Nagi and Hayate reclaim sad memories of their broken past, while I take over the world!" XT clapped his hands, excited about this scenario.

"But you said that was fake, that you taking over the world was only a side task."

"Ah, yes, you'll see. Though, back to the topic of your replacement. I have the entire Sanzenin Mansion under extreme observation. While I can view any of the camera's from my head, you are human, and can't do that. Therefore, I placed a monitor in your room so that you can watch over the mansion from here!"

Maria winced, spying on Hayate and Nagi was a little devious, but, she could still check up on them.

"XT-421, how long will I be up here?" This was a question that Maria was slightly afraid of asking.

"Hmm... This is why I have been doing my best to befriend you. You see, there is a book I wrote, the play-by-play of this entire operation. It is a few hundred pages long, detailing every possible outcome of my interference in your world. Right now, we are entering phase three, out of about six phases. Your kidnapping was the first. Ultimately... two more groups of people must fall, and then there will be a mighty climax, and that may happen a month or so from now."

_A MONTH!_ Maria took a step back.

"So, in that time, I hope to become better friends with you, and sooner than later you'll get it out of me, the awesomsauce plot that I've cooked up for you three. But, I am open to suggestions. I'll be honest, I didn't think the kidnapping out too far, I was way too obsessed with what happens on Earth that I kind of forgot you in the scheme of things. So, if you want to go take a small vacation to some beach, I can hook you up very well. But you can't go back to the mansion, and you'll essentially have to be tethered to me at all times."

Maria sighed, there was no escape.

"I'll repeat that for you once more, if there is anything you ever need, please ask, I will work on it immediately. I feel rather apologetic that you had to get caught up in all of this blathering nonsense."

"I will hate this. But, there is no avoiding it, is there?"

"Not particularly, no."

"Fine."

Generally, Maria was a contained, reserved person who never really got angry at anyone. But, caught between a rock and a hard place, with no real way out that looks remotely desirable, she agreed to play his game.

"Oh and, by the way..."

XT produced from his internal workings a scanty black article of clothing, notably a form of lingerie, lacking on one side. Maria's face paled.

"I got a word in that these were yours?"

"XT," Maria's smile was forced, "What. Are. You. Doing. With. Those?"

"I take it they are then. Didn't know you had such a sinister side to you." XT tossed her the suspicious undergarments as he smirked.

"I am entitled to my own fancies!" Maria shouted, holding her underwear close.

"That you are. Maybe I can help you get a boyfriend? I mean, what good is seductive lingerie if you're not dating anyone."

"I have gone on a date or two!" Maria declared.

"You are such a liar. Your whole mind is focused on fabrication and creation right now."

"XT." Maria had been extremely well conditioned: whenever angry, she smiled. She was smiling firmly right now. XT noticed her train of thought, and ended the conversation.

"Shall I leave you be?" Maria glared, "I'll take that as a yes. I've picked on you enough for a few chapters anyways. If you need me, just give that computer in your room a buzz. I will be writing a story in the main room."

Maria fumed as XT left the hall. She walked back to her room with her misunderstood underwear, and moped at her capture, mumbling angrily and incoherently about not being able to help Nagi or Hayate.

* * *

**So, there you go. To readers who HAVEN'T yet encountered XT, this is normally how he acts: crazy, shady, and waaay over the top.**

**It also tells you that this story will last the duration of a month (in story). Hopefully it was well received. I will get to converting the other files shortly (deliberately left vague, tee hee.)**

* * *

Chapter added 14:34, 12/05/2012


	11. A Solution to Her Fear of the Dark

**WHOOSH! I so fast.**

**So, I don't know what you think, but this chapter that you're about to read is one of my favorites thus far. I apologize though, for the brushing of the next rating up in maturity. It will be like this for about... oh, I don't know, five chapters? By the end of this "day" it will make sense.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Hayate woke the next day to the changing of his internal clock.

He didn't mind waking up, however. In fact, he was elated. Teeming with enthusiasm, he woke himself up and dressed in a matter of minutes. Today was another day he could earn his way out of debt. The last man smiling is the most diligent and honest one. He had a bit more faith in that belief since Ms. Nagi picked him off the street. He owed her his life.

Smiling, he walked downstairs and headed off towards the kitchen.

Something was wrong.

Maria was missing- Veronica Belle.

Hayate froze. Suddenly, the halls being obnoxiously clean made a bit more sense. The smell wafting from the kitchen indicated that she must have gotten up significantly earlier than Hayate and cleaned the house once over to boot.

Last night. _Last night..._ Hayate vividly recalled Veronica's naked form approaching him aggressively. "Kiss me", she had said. He shivered. Perhaps it was best to avoid the kitchen? No, that wouldn't do. _Mistress Nagi asked me to keep an eye out for her, so I intend to do just that._

He opened the door to the kitchen just a bit so that he could peer in at Veronica. She was dutifully working, as she should be.

Nothing was abnormal at all: no trace of fatigue, no impact from his presence in the room, no indication that she had attacked him in the nude last night.

At least, that's what he thought.

He turned to leave her be just before she spoke.

"Do you enjoy spying on maids, Hayate? I never expected something so naughty from a guy like you. But then again... given that there are only girls around here..." Veronica turned from the pancake batter and smirked at Hayate.

Hayate froze. He wasn't sure what to say. She had nearly assaulted him, so he should be angry or scared. But he was just unable to think as she glared into his eyes.

"So have you reconsidered? Feel free to waltz over here any time and make me yours."

"Why would you do that?" Hayate asked disjointedly. Some of the context was missing from his speech.

"What? Try to kiss you?" Hayate nodded, staring at her. It was possible, no, more than likely that Hayate was recalling what she looked like last night without her maid outfit on. "Well, obviously you're hot. You seem nice enough. But I don't understand the freak out."

Hayate looked to the side, any internal thoughts averted. "I am not sure Milady would appreciate me in such a relationship with any of her maids."

Veronica nodded. "That's noble bullshit."

"VERONICA!" A thunderous noise rumbled throughout the house.

Hayate and Veronica rushed to Nagi's bedroom.

* * *

Nagi looked at the door as it opened. She was angry, in two ways now. First, Veronica was not there to wake up in the morning. Second, Hayate and Veronica entered the room, _together_. That was unforgivable.

"What are you two doing coming into my room together?" Nagi bitterly queried.

"Well I was just, uh."

"Helping me cook breakfast. Is there a problem with that, Mistress Nagi?" Veronica completed for the floundering butler.

Nagi glared. Her blood pressure was noticeably rising. Veronica had been so friendly and genuine last night, Nagi couldn't assume that her maid was doing anything wrong with Hayate. But Hayate on the other hand... He was a boy, and boys cheated on girls in her manga.

Obviously Hayate would do the same, given the opportunity.

But, that was another matter. She couldn't be mad at Hayate either. For what would she do? Kick him out? _No, he'd only get into more trouble._

She was angrier that Veronica hadn't stayed with her all last night. What if some ghost tried to throttle her in her sleep? She couldn't let herself die a virgin! She needed someone with her to prevent this fate from occurring.

"Why did you leave me last night?" She growled.

Hayate understood; Veronica was filling in for Maria in this sense.

"Well, I don't sleep at a regular time, so late last night, when you were asleep, I rolled out of bed and continued cleaning."

"That doesn't seem healthy," Hayate noted aloud, "that lack of sleep will kill you."

"Oh, I slept, just much later and for much less. I am a," Veronica looked into the distance. "Mistress Nagi, can... can I talk to you?"

"Aren't you now?" Lemon peels wished they could be as bitter.

"Alone?" She motioned with her eyes at Hayate.

Nagi furrowed her brow at her, curious.

"Hayate, can you finish breakfast? I have to have a word with this maid in private." Nagi's tone was bitter and relentless.

Hayate let loose a sigh of relief. Veronica might get canned, and his personal problems with her would be resolved.

"With pleasure Milady." Hayate bowed and darted off to the kitchen. Both girls followed him with their eyes.

The moment the door closed Veronica focused her attention on the young heiress.

"Mistress Nagi, while I apologize for leaving you in your sleep, I feel that you are failing to see the potential of the situation." Veronica explained.

"What are you talking about?" Nagi wasn't sold.

"I read up on you a little bit before I came here, and I know you are very afraid of the dark." Nagi was about to protest, "regardless, you have to share your bed with someone."

Nagi tried not to look down sheepishly.

"If not me, then who?" There was only one other person save the chief butler whom we don't care about anymore.

Nagi's head rose to eye level as she began to blush.

Veronica, just for the slightest, infinitesimal sliver of time, smirked. "I would prefer not to. I can work, given that I require less sleep than most people, and have some personal rituals that are best kept to my private life when it comes to sleeping. Besides, I just met you, and I hardly know you.

"Hayate, on the other hand." Nagi's blush extended throughout her whole face as fantasies swirled in her head, "You've _known _him for a long time, and you were talking about this so much last night..."

"Ha-Hayate sleeps... with me?" This was too sudden. "I-I don't know. What if he doesn't..."

"Mistress Nagi!" Veronica cried out, hugging the girl gently, "He hasn't left yet, has he? Maybe this will be a great time to discuss your internal problems with one another, particularly your problems with him. I mean, after a wild night of-"

"DON'T SAY THAT SO FREELY!" Nagi screamed, turning tomato-red and falling to the floor.

"Even so, you don't have to have sex."

"But..._ He's going to be sleeping with me!" _She shrilly shrieked.

"Nagi." Veronica addressed her informally, "You are ready in here," she poked her head, "and here" she poked her left breast, her heart.

Nagi pondered. This was a life changing decision. If she let Hayate into her bed, while she was asleep, even if they didn't have sex, there was still the possibility that he could take advantage of her. She would be defenseless against him. Everything about her, sacred and non, would be breakable before him. Could she really live with herself if he took her? No, probably not.

But she thought harder. _If anyone, then who? Hayate... _Her mouth quavered as she said it but she said it all the same. "Ok. I'll have him sleep with me."

Veronica smiled openly, "Mistress, you won't regret this decision. Not in the slightest."

Nagi sat on her bed, gently gripping at it. She fell onto her back and grabbed a pillow. "Oh crap! I'm going to sleep with him!"

"You don't have to if you're scared of-"

"I'M NOT SCARED! It's just..." She had already cornered herself into this hole. She wanted to, but she was definitely scared too. _This is no time to back out. You've been dating for nearly a year and a half. It is time to take this to the next level._ She looked at herself, smelled herself, and then became worried. "Veronica! Yesterday you said something about taking me shopping to buy perfumes that made me smell like a woman!" She spoke with dazzlingly quick eloquence, "can we go now?"

"Today?"

"Yeah, right after breakfast."

"I guess so. Oh! You want to look sexy for your first-"

"STOP! Don't say a word." Nagi demanded.

"As you wish Mistress Nagi." Veronica smiled gaudily for her, and turned for the first time since she began her private chat. "May I finish helping Hayate cook your breakfast?"

"Yes, I'll get dressed myself." Nagi shooed her away, leaving herself alone with her fantasies about Hayate and herself, together, alone, later that night.

Veronica grinned until she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

The moment the door closed, her composure melted into something angry or exhausted. She let loose an inaudible sigh, patted her skirt down, and regained herself, grinning wickedly as she set off after Hayate.

* * *

Hayate had the pancakes prepared by the time Veronica entered the room.

Immediately, he was filled with a sense of thrill and dread. Of course, having Veronica act the way she did was flattering, but it terrified him to think how Nagi would act if ever she saw Veronica coming on to him the way she did.

Veronica looked at him as she entered, blinked twice, and asked "Well?"

Hayate just stood and stared.

"You're a moron." She concluded, sitting on a stool.

"How?" Hayate questioned, confused.

"Well, you don't know a thing about how to treat a woman right."

"What do you mean I don't know how to treat a woman right?" Hayate asked, cross.

"What do you mean; 'I don't know how to treat a woman right?'" Nagi growled.

Hayate looked up, panicked. Veronica didn't look so scared. "Oh, just chatting about certain things." She winked in Nagi's direction, which seemed to ease the tension in the room.

Nagi looked at Hayate, how he was confused and unaware, and then at Veronica, with her calm collected face, soothed her tumultuous emotions, if but a bit.

"Hayate, is breakfast done cooking?" Nagi snapped.

"Of course Milady." Hayate explained confidently.

"Good, then let's eat. We're going shopping today."

"We- we are?" Hayate questioned.

"Yes. We need to go clothes shopping." Nagi admitted openly.

"Mistress Nagi," Veronica looked at her with a touch of distress, "Do you honestly want Hayate there while you shop?"

Nagi paused. _Oh my gosh... she's right. Hayate can't be next to me! He can't know I'm buying clothes for tonight! He can't see me before... before we..._ Her face turn red as fantasies filled her mind.

"Well, no. Hayate..." Nagi looked down.

"Do you want me to remain here?" Hayate offered.

"No... well... uh... maybe. You should go shopping for groceries so you'll be in the area if I need you." Nagi demanded.

Hayate didn't need to be told twice. "Of course Milady." Hayate agreed, pulling Nagi's usual seat at the table for her to sit down, a platter of pancakes before her.

Nagi flashed a smile, then let her face become devoid of emotion as she pondered through her breakfast.

As Hayate sat across from her, he watched intently. Fruit had been mixed in with some of the small pancakes that Nagi was eating, and he was determined to see how many he could trick her into eating before she noticed.

Veronica, he noted, was not eating.

"Ms. Veronica," Hayate felt that his pancakes would go wasted if she didn't participate in breakfast.

"Yes Hayate?" Veronica gazed over at him, standing a few feet to the side of Nagi.

"Why won't you eat breakfast with us?" He asked sincerely.

Nagi watched with Hayate as something in Veronica's normally cool and collected demeanor broke. Some strange, unseen threshold had just been passed.

"I-Uh-Well- You see..." Veronica stammered for the right words, then froze, smiled casually, and sat down a seat away from Nagi. "Why not?"

Veronica delicately handled two small disks onto her plate, slathered syrup on them, and cut gently through the food. Slowly, she ate her pancakes bite by bite, and finished around the same time Hayate and Nagi had together eaten over ten.

"Milady," Hayate asked, "what precisely do we need from the grocery store?"

"Ugh, this was Maria's job..." A moment of silence followed, "Oh, I don't know, go get something you think I'll like."

Hayate pondered as he gathered up the plates to take back to the kitchen.

"Mistress Nagi," Veronica's mouth quivered ever so slightly,

Nagi looked at her expectantly to finish her sentence.

"May I use the restroom before we go?"

"Of course." Nagi rolled her eyes, _what a stupid question._

Veronica disappeared without a second thought.

* * *

Once in the bathroom furthest from the duo, she locked the door securely, and knelt over the porcelain waste-remover. She opened her mouth as wide as she could and gripped the ends of the bowl to support herself. Slowly, the two pancakes that had been partially chewed, and curiously not digested, reappeared in her mouth, exiting into the toilet.

"Dad better pay me damn well for this." She grumbled, wiping the syrup from her delicate lips, completely unfazed by the regurgitation. "This masquerade is getting tiresome fast... I better stay away from that food... Who knows what it could've damaged if it stayed in there for too much longer..."

Sighing, she patted her skirt down once more, looked at herself in the mirror, put on a fake smile, and exited as cheerfully as she could muster, leaving with the duo shortly thereafter.

* * *

**Ok! Wonderful! Perhaps you as a reader understands where I am going with this?**

**Ooh! The interesting dramas I can create!**

**The best part? I've only just started.**

**Muhohohohohohohohohoho!**

* * *

****Chapter added 15:37, 05/12/2012


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